Hidden Bars
by Son Akito
Summary: [new version] One year after the Cell Games, Gohan gets kidnapped by an evil villian and is forced to be a slave. After four years he is saved and along with the Princess AJ, begins to live his life once again.
1. Prologue

**After watching DBZ again, I realized that I wanted to write DBZ-fiction again. I have always liked my main idea of Hidden Bars, but felt that over the year of writing it, that I could do better. So here is my updated verison of Hidden Bars. I will still show all my original characters, and will try to update once a week (this will be a personal goal on my part).**

**I am open too all forms of reviews, just as long as they help. **

**I hope you like the new Hidden Bars (the old verison is still up as Unfinished Hidden Bars if you want to look ahead on things that _could_ happen).**

_Gohan _** thinking to oneself or writing**

"::Gohan::" ** telepathic converstaion**

**I don't own DBZ.**

* * *

**Hidden Bars**

Prologue

_-Son Akito_

_Sometimes, I feel like I am missing something._

"...Things are getting out of hand with Gohan."

_I don't know if it's because my dad died (because of my mistakes), but I have this undying want that isn't being answered._

"He doesn't leave his room. He barely talks to me. Ever since Goku-sa died, he's been...different."

_I see the looks in everyone's eyes, they all hate me for it. Even though they all say that I did the "right thing" I still know I didn't do anything right. Because of me, everyone lost their hero._

"I wouldn't be coming to you if I didn't think something was wrong..."

_I hate myself, because everything I do is wrong._

"I try to tell him that Goku-sa left us because he felt that it was the right thing to do. But he still believes the reason his dad left was because of the Cell Games..."

_I dream about the Games...And it hurts each time._

"...He screams and cries in his sleep. This has been happening ever since the Cell Games, and that was a year ago."

_...I don't have a reason to live..._

"Piccolo, what do I do?" Chi-chi whipped her tears away from her eyes, and stared into Piccolo's.

Piccolo glanced up at Gohan, who was in his room writing in his journal. He looked back into Chi-chi's eyes, trying to figure something out to tell the woman.

True, Gohan had been acting strange since Son Goku died. Gohan no longer talks to him anymore, so he really didn't understand what was happening. The weird thing was that Gohan always talked to Piccolo, and sometimes he talked _too _much for Piccolo's liking.

Yet now, he can't remember the last time Gohan talked.

"Um..." Piccolo was at a lost of words, he didn't know what to say to make Goku's wife feel better. He didn't even understand what was happening to Gohan either.

"Piccolo," Piccolo eyes wondered back to Chi-chi's, as tears started to fall down her face, "I just don't want him to hurt anymore."

_My life should have been taken instead of my father's. My father was a hero, a hero of Earth. I don't understand why he tried to lay that responsibly on me. I am only twelve years old. I sometimes wonder where my childhood went. Ever since I could remember, I was either trying to stay alive in the wilderness, or fighting some bad guy or alien to the point that I was barely alive at the end of it..._

_...Sometimes, I wish I didn't have to keep living like this._

Piccolo started to walk away from Chi-chi, he had told her that he would try to figure it and get back to her on the problem.

Gohan always seemed confusing to Piccolo, or maybe it was the fact that _all_ humans were confusing.

"::Gohan::" Piccolo telepathy called out to his friend.

"::Piccolo-san, how are you?::" Gohan replied back.

Piccolo then began to worry, he sensed shame in Gohan's answer.

Gohan and Piccolo had a special kind of telepathic bond. Their bond was so pure, that there is no way to hid true feelings from each other.

"::We need to talk::"

"::Are you okay Piccolo-san? I can sense that you are worried::"

"::Nevermind that, just come and see me::" And Piccolo cut off his bond.

* * *

Gohan closed his eyes and exit out of the bond as well. He re-read his journal entry and closed the book behind him.

He hated feeling this way. Everyone tells him he has no reason to _feel_ this way, but Gohan felt like he can't help it.

It had been a year since his father had died. And each and every day Gohan is reminded that it was because of him. His mother even had another child, Goten. Even though Goten is only three months old, he looks just like his father.

His mother cried when she first saw Goten, and Gohan knew that she was happy, but also sad that Goku wasn't there to share in the moment.

Everything Goten did though, Gohan loved. The first time Goten wrapped his little hand around Gohan's hand, he had known that he would love his little brother forever.

But, in the back of his mind, Gohan knew that Goten will never have the father that he knew and loved.

Sighing, Gohan walked out of his room. As Gohan started walk down the stairs to the front door, he meet his mother in the middle of the stair way.

"Hello," Gohan breathed as he walked right pass his mother.

"Gohan-chan," Chi-chi whispered as she watched her son walk down the stairs and out the door.

Chi-chi was lost when it came to her oldest son. Ever since Goku had died, Gohan and Chi-chi never seemed to get along. They would fight about everything. Chi-chi couldn't remember the last time they carried on a good conversation.

She never meant to fight with her son, but it would always turn out that way. Chi-chi knew that she was too stubborn to be left in the dark, and that's how she always felt when it came to her eldest son. Out of the loop. Goku was always the shining parent, the one who was able to keep the peace in the house hold.

Chi-chi sighed and walked back down stairs. She only wanted what was best for her son.

She hoped that Piccolo would talk to him for her, the mother was too worn out to fight anymore.

* * *

"Piccolo-san!" Gohan called out as he flew though the trees. Piccolo wasn't their normal spot.

And he knew that wasn't good.

If Piccolo had something important to say, he would always end up at the spot where they first meet. When Piccolo threw Gohan into a mountain, and because of Gohan's hidden powers, he was able to blow the mountain away.

Gohan landed on the ground, he was getting close to his old mentor and decided to walk instead of fly.

_I wonder what he needs to talk about_, Gohan thought to himself, _Everyone has been acting weird since the Cell Games. Well, I guess that is my fault. They all should be acting weird towards me. Krillin-san and I haven't talked since the Games. Bulma-san doesn't come over to the house anymore. All Vegeta does is mumble about dad since he died and we stopped training months ago._

"Piccolo, where are you?" Gohan yelled out, yet there was no answer.

Gohan continued to walk though the forest, and was getting upset. Why wasn't Piccolo around? They should of just meet at their normal spot, yet for some reason Piccolo had to meet him somewhere else.

"::Piccolo-san, where are you? This is getting old::" After arriving at the spot, Piccolo was still no where to be found, Gohan opened their bond.

"You sound annoyed," out of the forest came Piccolo.

Gohan glanced up and looked at Piccolo. This was the thing that worried Piccolo the most, his eyes were different. They weren't full of life anymore, they weren't showing any form of expression. They seemed broken.

"Well, yeah, first you _have_ to talk to me, and then I can't find you anywhere," Gohan snapped back.

Piccolo was a little taken back, Gohan never talked to him like this before.

"What is wrong with you?" Piccolo shout, he didn't feel like playing around and just jumped into the real issue.

Gohan was a little taken back, "What do you mean?"

Piccolo sighed, "You know what I mean, you have been acting different."

"What do you mean by _that?"_ Gohan shouted.

"What do I mean? Like this, what you are doing right now? You never acted like that before. All you have been doing is sitting in your room writing in that god-damned journal. You never come out anymore, you don't talk to anyone, you get in fights with your mother–who by the way is worried about you. You have that damn look of sadness in your eyes each time I see you."

Gohan stared at Piccolo in confusion, and this only upset Piccolo more.

"Everyone is afraid that you are going to do something dumb. And I swear to Kamisama if you do anything-"

"What, dumb?" Gohan cried out, tears running down his face, "What the hell do you think I am going to do with myself?"

"Do you blame me!" Piccolo screamed out, "Every time someone mentions Goku's name-"

"I get sad!" Gohan shouted, "Why the fuck do I have to _hide_ everything Piccolo? Why can't I be lonely or sad? Why do I have to act all big and strong?"

The air around them was covered in silence.

Gohan closed his eyes and breathed out. He was holding that in for a while. The young saiyan never did talk about how he _felt_ about everything. It was always someone else getting the first word in. Like how his mother cried for her husband, how Vegeta needed his victory, how everyone else had to say something and Gohan having to hear it.

Yet, Piccolo could see right through it, "It's okay that you can feel sad about your father dying. But that's not the reason you are feeling sad," Piccolo sighed and looked Gohan right in his eyes, "You blame yourself."

Gohan's eyes widen, he was unable to breathe.

Piccolo took a step forward, "It's that you think it's your fault, and because of that you are pushing us away."

Gohan bit his lip, he bit it so hard that blood dripped down his chin. Piccolo saw this and started to walk up to Gohan, yet before he was able to get close to his student, Gohan took a step back.

"I am pushing you away?" Gohan whispered, "You are the one who said that emotions are for the weak, Vegeta doesn't want to hear anything I have to say. Krillin-san and Bulma-san haven't even talked to me since everything ended," Gohan sniffed, all this was getting too much, "And here you are discussing my issues?"

"Gohan, you aren't understanding-"

"How dare you!" Gohan flashed into super saiyan form and punched his mentor in the face, causing Piccolo to hit the ground, "How dare you put another thing on me Piccolo. First my mom, then you, who else is next? Who else is going to point out my mistakes to me!"

Piccolo raised himself up and whipped the blood that was dripping from his face, he had to try to clam Gohan down, "Look Gohan, I am only trying to help."

Gohan glanced up into his mentor's eyes, and was able to sense Piccolo's fear. Gohan then step back, realizing that he had just hit Piccolo.

Piccolo, very slowly, started to walk to Gohan.

Gohan looked down at his hands, his mind raising. He can't be like this anymore, he can't get angry like this anymore because Gohan was unable to control it.

The young saiyan felt Piccolo's hand touch his shoulder, his eyes were covered in tears.

"What's wrong with me Piccolo-san?"

And with that, Gohan fell to his knees and cried for the first time in a year.

* * *

"Vanlash, are you sure this is going to work?"

"Of course it's going to work, you have the collar ready right Weller."

"Yes, but how are we going to make this work?"

"We capture it, and that collar will do the rest. Make sure Tomack and Rexter are prepared."

A man stood up from his chair, and looked out as the planets flew past him. He chuckled to himself, "Strange being from Earth, you will be mine."


	2. Taken

**I had to take my computer in to get it repaired, so this chapter got posted a little later then I planed. Thank you all for still reading my story even though I am re-writing it. I will try my best to make this story better then the first.**

**Thanks for the advice **SSJ3MysticGohan, **and I will be a little more careful with my grammer. And I am not sure how long my chapters are going to be...I just kinda write them until I am done kinda thing **

**If you like my writing, and would like to see more of it, I am also writing on livejournal. http://son-akito. do not own DBZ**

**

* * *

**

**Hidden Bars**

Taken

_-Son Akito_

Piccolo returned Gohan home to his mother.

"Gohan-chan, are you okay," Chi-chi hugged her son, he was shaking.

"You two should talk," Piccolo glanced down at the mother and son, "I'll talk to the others, things shouldn't be like this with him."

And with that, the Namek walked into the woods.

"Mother," Gohan cried to his mother and embraced her in a hug, "Why is it still with me?"

Gohan fell to his knees, Chi-chi caught him and slowly set him down to the ground, not letting go of that hug.

"I don't know sweetie, but it will be over soon," Chi-chi ran her fingers though her son's hair, he was still shaking. This made the mother hug her son tighter, "No one blames you Gohan-chan, so you should stop blaming yourself."

The saiyan looked up at his mother, and the tears had stopped. He shook his head and stood up, backing slowly away from his mother. Chi-chi tried to reach out to her son, but for some reason she wasn't able to grab him.

Gohan shifted his body to the setting sun, and whipped his tears away.

For some reason, he didn't want his mother to see him like _this_.

Like something was holding him back...

...Like he was behind bars.

Chi-chi put her hands into her face, and began to cry. She hated that her eldest son was like this, how he was so hurt that no matter what she did he would never be better again.

Chi-chi glanced up at her son through her eyes. He was looking down at her, his eyes red. The mother knew that her son was trying, and that's all she could ask for now.

They both took their eyes off each other, and watched the sun set.

* * *

"We are preparing to land Vanlash."

"Good, can you figure out where that power is from?"

"Just barely, but I got it."

"Very good, how much longer."

"Ten minutes."

* * *

_I don't ever feel like I can talk to anyone_, Gohan sighed sitting out in the yard looking at the stars. His mother had left him to feed Goten, _I don't understand why I have to talk about it. It just worries everyone. It's only been a year, how quickly do they expect me to be over it? _

Gohan jumped up and started to fly up to the stars. He just needed to be away for a little while, and the young saiyan knew if he was too far from home his mother would worry.

He continued tofly higher and higher into the night sky. He loved the stars, the were so peaceful up in the sky like that. They would shine on, no matter what his mood was, they were always there. Even if they were covered by clouds, he knew that they would pass by and shine in the night sky.

The stars were like the light in the dark he was looking for.

"Gohan!"

Gohan glanced over and saw Vegeta fly next to him. Vegeta seemed to be in a panic.

"What's wrong Vegeta?" Gohan asked, confused on why the saiyan prince would come to him in a hurry.

"Don't you sense that baka?" Vegeta yelled, "Don't' you sense that force?"

"Force?" Gohan escaped his thoughts for just a moment, and was able to sense four powerful forces headed right his way.

"They are going to land any second now, get everyone out of that house of yours," Vegeta growled as he started to find a place to land.

Gohan flew down to his house and ran though the front door.

"Mother!" Gohan cried as he ran though the house looking for her.

"Gohan, what's the matter?" Chi-chi asked as she walked out of her bedroom holding Goten.

"I have to get you out of here."

"What? Why-" before Chi-chi could say anything else, Gohan picked her up and flew both her and Goten out of the house.

"Gohan what is going on?" Chi-chi demanded as Gohan set her down a few yards away.

"I don't have time mother, something is coming," Gohan said in a panic as he placed his hand on Goten's head.

Gohan glanced into his mother's eyes, they seem to show some form of emotion. An emotion that Chi-chi couldn't put in words, "Gohan-chan..."

"Please," Gohan begged his mother, before looking down at his little brother Goten. Goten had a confused baby look on his face, he grabbed his older brother's finger and wrapped his little hand around them, "Tell him about me."

* * *

With that, Gohan took off, leaving his mother to wonder.

"Vegeta, I came here as soon as I sensed it," Krillin landed behind Vegeta and stood in fighting stance, "Do you have any idea who is coming here?"

"No," Vegeta turned his head slightly to Krillin.

"Where is Gohan?"

"He went to–" Before Vegeta could finish, both Krillin and Vegeta looked up to see a space ship headed right toward them. They both jumped out of the way before the ship hit them.

Vegeta and Krillin stood in stance as the battle ship began to open up, and four beginnings stepped out.

The biggest one looked at both Vegeta and Krillin, "It's not either of you..." His red hair fell in his eyes, and bushed it back. He started walking off the space ship, the other three followed.

"We're not what?" Vegeta asked, smirking, it had been a while since he had been in a good fight.

The red hair man glanced at Vegeta, looking him up and down. He smirked, "Aren't you Vegeta?"

One of the man's followers, a woman, started to laugh, "My goodness, it _is_ Vegeta!" She walked up to Vegeta and looked him up and down, once she was done, she grinned, "I didn't think Frieza, would let you go without a fight."

"Vegeta?" Krillin glared up at the saiyan prince, "I thought you said you didn't know who they were."

Vegeta ignored Krillin and glanced up at the leader of the group. His long red hair kept getting in his eyes, and every so often he would brush his hair back. He was wearing a dark green armor suit, like the one Vegeta himself was wearing, but the pants were bagger. Vegeta glanced up at his silver eyes, it reminded him of something...

And then, it hit him. Vegeta's eyes widen as he began to take a few steps back.

"Vegeta?" Krillin called out in confusion. Seeing Vegeta's reaction to the group frightened him. The saiyan was never afraid of anything...

Just then, Gohan ran behind Vegeta. Vegeta glanced back at Gohan, and then forward.

"Who are you?" Gohan called up, getting in fighting stance.

"That is Vanlash and his crew," Vegeta growled, not keeping his eyes off them, "They are famous for plugging and selling planets. They are the masters of the black market."

"Then how do _you _know them?" Gohan asked, not keeping his eyes off the red hair man.

"They were in business with Frieza quite a few times during my time," Vegeta glanced over at Gohan, "The red hair one is Vanlash, the leader."

Gohan nodded as Vanlash began to laugh, flipping his hair back, "Looks like my reputation has precedes me."

"And don't forget about me," The woman, within seconds was in front of Gohan, moving her finger back and forth from the teenager's face, "I'm Rexter."

Rexter smiled at Gohan before vanishing before his eyes, her eyes left Gohan out of breath. Her red eyes were piercing his very soul. She then was back next to Vanlash, and started to take off her black jacket and threw back into the space ship. She wore a blank tank top underneath, and with the jacket off, was also wearing black shorts. She pulled her blonde hair back in a pony tail.

"I am Tomack," Another man walked up next to Rexter and leaded on her shoulder, his long black hair hung to his side. He put one hand into his blue pant pocket, and stretched out his arm over Rexter. Rexter just smiled, and placed her hand on Tomack's long sleeve blue shirt and smiled back at the Z-gang.

"Don't forget about Weller," Tomack yelled out as Weller stepped up front to present himself. He had a gray suit just like Vanlash, yet since Weller was a little more on the heavy side, his suit fit around him a little more tighter. He had short black hair and small eyes. He was holding something in his hands, but no one could make out what it was.

Gohan grinned, looking at Vegeta and Krillin. All these bad guys were the same.

Vanlash noticed Gohan's smirk, and walked up to the boy, "What are you smiling about?"

Vanlash over-powered Gohan in height, yet he knew that the bigger they were the harder they fall, "Just noticing something, that's all."

Vegeta and Krillin whipped their heads and looked at Gohan. He was acting different again. Gohan never was a big talker when it came to fighting...

"What's that?" Vanlash chuckled.

"All you guys are the same," Gohan grinned, staring into Vanlash's eyes, for some reason he wasn't afraid, "First you go off stating "who" you are. Then you are going to tell us about your "master" plan to destroy the Earth," Gohan then lost his grin and stood in his fighting stance once again, "And I won't allow that."

Vanlash studied the boy's stance, and then put his hands on his hips and began to laugh. Gohan tighten more, he didn't understand what was funny.

Vanlash sighed after his laughing, whipping the tears away from his eyes, "Who said anything about destroying the Earth?"

Gohan, Vegeta, and Krillin exchanged looks from one another.

"Then why are you here?" Krillin asked.

"We have something in store for one of you," Tomack smirked, walking towards Vanlash as the other two followed behind him.

"What are you getting at?" Gohan yelled, getting impatience.

"We are looking for a new toy," Rexter sung, walking up to Gohan, "And we just found one."

"How absurd," Vegeta snored, "And what makes you think that we are going to hand over the brat so easily?"

Vanlash grinned, "We never said it was going to be easy," and with that, Vanlash glanced over at Rexter and Tomack, and within seconds they disappeared.

* * *

Without even realizing it, Tomack kicked Krillin and sent him flying backwards. Krillin bounced back up, and stood in his fighting stance. Tomack landed near by, and began to laugh.

"Why are you laughing?" Krillin screamed, feeling insulted.

"Because," Tomack–without having Krillin sense it–was behind him, "This is too easy."

Vegeta on the other hand, was able to sense Rexter coming at him, and blocked her kick. They both flew up into the night sky. Rexter placed her hands on her hips, "Are you ready Prince?"

Vegeta folded his arms and rolled his eyes, "Oh please, your master is making me fight you, a _woman._"

Rexter frowned her brow, and a second later was up in Vegeta's face, "Well, if I were you, I would be a little more worried." With that, Rexter disappeared from Vegeta.

This worried him a bit, because he wasn't able to sense her.

* * *

Vanlash took a step closer to Gohan, and the teenager took a step back, "What do you mean?" Gohan asked.

"You are going to come with us," Vanlash grinned, as he eyed Weller, who vanished from Gohan's sight.

"What makes you think I am going to come with you?" Gohan got into fighting stance and stared Vanlash in the eyes, "I am not going to come with you willing."

Within a second, Vanlash disappeared and punched Gohan in the face, sending him flying though the woods.

Gohan flipped himself over and landed on the ground, he looked up to see Vanlash coming right at him. Gohan fired a ki blast, as Vanlash dodged and took another swing at Gohan.

The saiyan blocked the attack, and they both started to punch and kick each other, but none of them could make contact.

Just then, Gohan punched Vanlash square in the face, which sent Vanlash flying though the air. Gohan flowed Vanlash, and got enough speed to get right up to him and kick him in the head. Before Vanlash hit the ground, Gohan punched him in the chest, which sent him crashing into the Earth's surface.

* * *

Rexter kicked Vegeta in the stomach and kicked him, which sent the prince crashing to his knees. Rexter flipped her hair back, and started walking to Vegeta, "I told you to be worried," She grabbed Vegeta by the hair and brought him to her face, "I may be a woman, but I am the second most powerful next to Vanlash, so you better not fuck with me."

Vegeta started to laugh, as he turned into super saiyan, grabbing Rexter's arm, "Think again," and Vegeta threw her into a tree, "You haven't seen anything yet."

A few feet away, Krillin was thrown into the water, as Tomack jumped into the river and followed after him.

Krillin was in a state of panic, he knew that Tomack was too much for him. Krillin had lost his touch over the years.

He saw Tomack flying though the water to get him, and Krillin closed his eyes, he knew that he lost this battle.

Yet, nothing happened, Krillin opened his eyes and saw Piccolo kick Tomack in the face, and they both flew up to the surface.

Krillin sighed, relief that Piccolo took him out of that battle..

"So, who are you?" Tomack asked as he whipped the blood from his face.

Piccolo grinned, "Why does it matter?"

Tomack chuckled, "Well, I like to know who I will be killing."

Piccolo flew up and punched Tomack, sending him flying back, "Well, I don't."

* * *

Vanlash laughed, getting up from the ground, "Wow, you are good."

Gohan didn't reply, and got back into his fighting stance.

"You are holding back though, right?" Vanlash asked, as he stepped closer to Gohan.

Gohan was taken back, how was Vanlash able to tell?

Vanlash shook his head, "I better stop this before you get _too_ powerful."

With that, Weller came up from behind Gohan and clipped on a gold collar around his neck.

Gohan was covered in pain, the collar was doing something...

Piccolo had been keeping a mental check on Gohan as he was fighting Tomack, and as soon as it disappeared, Piccolo flew away from his fight and went to Gohan.

Tomack grinned, "They got him," and flew off behind Piccolo.

Vegeta had also sensed something strange coming from Gohan, as did Rexter, who started to laugh, "Looks like we caught him."

Before Vegeta was able to react, Rexter went behind Vegeta, hit him right in the neck, causing him to fade out of super saiyan and pass out. Rexter laughed, "No match," and took off towards Vanlash.

Gohan fell to his knees in pain, he couldn't seem to focus, it felt like something was taken away from him, like he wasn't in control.

Vanlash laughed, walking over to the fallen Gohan, "This is how I am taking you," Vanlash bent down, "This collar has some great powers you see, with it, I can control you."

Gohan gasped, he was just trying to breathe, "What...How?"

Vanlash walked up to Gohan and picked him up by the collar, "See, I can control your feelings, I can make you feel pain, I can make you fight, I can make you kill..."

Gohan growled, "Never!" But the pain was too much for him and he screamed.

Piccolo flew over and tried to kick Vanlash in the head, but Vanlash sensed it and dodged it just in time.

Piccolo landed in the ground, and started to run over to Vanlash and Gohan, yet Rexter came from above and kicked Piccolo to the ground.

"Gohan!" Krillin yelled as he tried running over to his buddy, but Tomack grabbed him from behind and threw him into a tree.

"It's no use beings of Earth," Vanlash yelled as he held Gohan, "My team is too strong for you," he turned over to Gohan and smirked, "It's time to go."

Gohan's body shook up and down, "...No." He knew it was no use, the collar left him weak and in their control.

"You can't!"

Vanlash and Gohan glanced over and saw Chi-chi standing before them, with tears running down her face.

"Mom...don't." Gohan cried as Chi-chi ran up to Vanlash and tried punching him, he looked down at her, "You can't take him away!"

"You better step away woman," he warned.

She stepped back in fear, and walked into Gohan, she looked up and saw her son in pain.

Vanlash set Gohan down, and Chi-chi hugged him, "I am so sorry baby," she whispered, crying into her son's chest.

Gohan began to shake, he was in too much pain, and seeing his mother cry made it worst. He knew this was his last chance, and hugged his mother. He couldn't say anything, his voice was taken away from him.

"Gohan-chan, just remember none of it was-" before Chi-chi could finish, Vanlash hit Chi-chi behind the neck, causing her to pass out.

Gohan fell to his knees, staring down at his fallen mother.

"Don't worry," Vanlash sighed, grabbing Gohan from the back of his collar, "She just passed out."

Gohan glanced behind him into Vanlash's gray eyes, "You..."

Vanlash rolled his eyes, because both of them knew the saiyan couldn't do anything about it anymore.

Vanlash dragged the young saiyan away..

"Let's go," Vanlash yelled.

Rexter grinned, walking away from the fallen Piccolo.

Tomack flew off, leaving Krillin who was left laying on the ground.

All the monk could hear was a scream from Gohan, before the ship flew into the sky.

Krillin stood up as best he could, and walked around to see everyone fallen around him. Once he saw Chi-chi, he ran over to her to make sure she was alright.

Yet, something was crying behind the bushes.

Krillin walked over to see young Goten on the ground.

He picked up the baby and held on to him tightly, his tears falling on the baby saiyan, "How could we let him go?"

The night was now silence, and the stars shined bright.


	3. Owned

**Wow, it's been a long time. And I am sorry for that. Honestly, I am not sure if this story will ever be finished or not, but at the same time we can hope for the best! Totally take another angle of the story then the original, but hope you like it all the same.**

"**::words::" talking though mind!**

**I don't own Dragonball Z, I'm not cool like that. But still review.**

* * *

**Hidden Bars**

Owned

_-Son Akito_

It had taken them a few months, but the Z-gang was able to gather all seven dragonballs. Placing them in a circle, they raised their hands up to the sky.

"Come forth Dragon to grant my wish," Chi-chi had screamed, as the sky turned dark.

The Earth around them shook, as the seven dragonballs began to glow. They were so bright that the party had to shut their eyes. The lights danced in the sky, as the dragon was taking it's form.

Goten, who was in Bulma's arms, giggled and reached out towards the dragon. Trunks, who had been standing by his mother, held on to her leg in fear of the great being.

Krillin was standing next to Chi-chi, each time he saw the dragon form, he was amazed. He could never understand how the dragonballs came to be, but he was grateful that they were around for the sake of granting wishes.

Vegeta and Piccolo stood to the side, eyeing each other as the rest waited for the dragon to arise.

Once the lights turned into the dragon they had been waiting for, the wish granter breathed out, "You have summoned me, now tell me your wish so I may grant it."

"Dragon," Chi-chi screamed, raising her hands up higher, "Please grant me my wish."

The dragon breathed out, waiting for her to claim her wish.

"I wish that my son, Son Gohan, return to planet Earth."

The dragon eyes glowed, but only for a moment, "Your wish cannot be granted."

"What?" Krillin yelled, his eyes widen at the dragon's answer, "What do you mean he can't be wished back."

The dragon growled, "He is owned."

"What the hell does that mean?" Piccolo growled stared up at the dragon before him.

The dragon breathed out once again, his eyes blank as he looked down at the party before him, "The human of which you speak of, Son Gohan, has been claimed, and I cannot allow his return."

The party gasped at the dragon, this was their only hope. There was no way in telling where Gohan was, whatever they had put around the teenager's neck hid his chi, and without any trace of a chi...

There was nothing to be done.

"What does that mean?" Chi-chi whispered, staring into space, "Owned? I don't understand..."

"It means that he has been imprisoned," Vegeta walked up to the woman, "Vanlash owns him now; the Eastern Universe, it has different laws then this one, but they apply anywhere."

"But what does that _mean_," tears flew down the mother's eyes, as she looked up at Vegeta. She wanted to say more, but there as a thick lump in the back of her troat, and no matter how hard she tried, she wasn't able to speak.

Vegeta watched the woman break down in front of him, "It means...That granting that wish, would be illegal in the Eastern part of the Universe. To order to bring the kid back, you need permission from the owner."

"But, what about you Vegeta?" Krillin screamed, "Didn't the same thing happen to you with Frieza?"

Vegeta glanced over at Krillin, and the monk suddenly regretted asking that question.

"That was different," he shifted his eyes towards the dragon before him, "That kid is in a far worst place then I was."

The dragon growled at them, "Your wish was not able to be granted, do you have another?"

Everyone's eyes seem to focus in on Chi-chi. Once hearing Vegeta's words, the tears and her sadness couldn't stop. Everything about her son seemed to flash before her eyes. The moment his was born, the times that Gokuu and Gohan would play in the woods together, when she use to watch him study in his room, as he grew up right before her eyes. All that she could think about was the life that he lived with her on the Earth, and now that he was...

She couldn't bare it, she couldn't bare to think what was happening to him. He was in so much pain the last time she saw him, her Gohan had a huge burden that was never lifted. It was her fault that he felt that way. She remembered her son watching her cry for her husband, and all he was able to do was to listen to her.

When it was her that should have done the listening.

"Chi-chi," though her tears the mother saw her friend Bulma, she watched as Bulma tried her best to smile at her, "Is there another wish you want granted?"

She shook his head, "No," she sobbed, "I just want my Gohan-chan."

Bulma softly reached over the woman's shoulder to comfort her, Chi-chi didn't react, she didn't do anything but cry. Her child, her love, they were all gone and she was all alone.

"::Chi-chi::"

It didn't seem real, but a familiar voice flowed though her mind. It couldn't be true, she had thought, it couldn't be true that after so long she was hearing...

"Goku-sa," Chi-chi cried, "He's gone," she yelled to the skies, "They took our baby."

"::It will be alright Chi-chi, it's going to be alright."

"How?" It had seemed that Chi-chi was talking to herself, as the party glanced looks back and forth to one another, "We can't wish him back."

"::I'll look for him. I promise that I will find him.::"

"But you're gone too," and saying that out loud made the woman cry harder, she was shaking that Bulma handed Goten off to Krillin, grabbing hold of the broken mother, trying her best to clam the her down. The young baby watched his mother, and started to cry.

"::Wish me back, Chi::"

Then the crying had stopped, Chi-chi shot her head up, "Really? You want to come back?" She had dreamed that her husband would return to her.

Yet, not like this.

"::I won't let that monster have him,::" his voice became stern, as if he was getting into battle, which was a tone that Gokuu had never used on her, "::I won't allow it.::"

Chi-chi didn't respond to him, she shook her head softly, getting out of Bulma's grip, and walking up to the great dragon before her.

Everyone watched as the mother stood before the dragon, her face dried from the tears that she had cried just a few moments ago. Little Goten had stopped crying, as he watched his mother walk away and into the light the dragon was shining.

Chi-chi threw her hands up into the sky, reaching them towards the dragon. She shallowed, getting that lump out of the back of her troat. Her eyes stared straight into the eyes of the dragon. Inside the woman's eyes, there was a ray of hope.

The dragon watched the scenery before him, and waited for the human to grant it's wish.

"Dragon, please grant my wish," her voice was loud and deep, "Bring back the man I love, Son Gokuu, back from the dead."

The party gasped at her wish, hoping that the dragon could grant it.

**Four years later...**

"76646426," though the crowd of broken people, a teenager stepped up and walked toward the building. His eyes glanced behind him, watching as his owners turned their backs and walked away.

It was nice to get away from them every once in a while.

"Ah, you must be it," a man said as he grabbed the back of the teenager's collar, "Follow me."

He really didn't have a choice in the matter, and followed the man though the doors and into the building. Inside, there were people just like him, sitting along the walls. They were all waiting for their yearly check ups, yet when your owners where _his_, there was no waiting in line.

"So, what was it, ah yes, 76646426," the man had said, as they both entered the room together. The number sat down, watching as the man gathered his notebook and paper, "You know how this works right?"

He shook his head.

"You also know that you are able to express any violations if there are any," the man sat down across the teenager.

If he had shared a violation with the man...much worst things would come.

The collar left him weak, but also left him with no emotions. He looked down, rubbing the chains that were around his hands. They were heavy, a lot heavier then they use to be. The number had waited for man to begin the interview.

"Have your owners abused you past regulation?"

"No," his voice was dry, as if he had not talked in months.

The man nodded, writing down their conversation in his notebook, "Have your owners sexually abused you?"

"No."

"Have your owners broken any kind of law in the past year."

"No."

"Look," the man slammed his notebook down, "I can barely fucking hear you, speak up."

His eyes did not look past the chains, and he silently shook his head. The man picked up his notebook once again, "What does your collar do?"

This was a question that the number always had, and each and every time he wished that he was able to them what it did. Yet, he knew how the Eastern side worked, even if a law was broken, there were too many bad people to make it right again. He lifted his fingers and lightly touched the collar.

"It's a symbol," the teenager looked up, "Of ownership."

The man shook his head and laughed, "They all do something like that."

It didn't seem so funny to the number.

"I hate these fucking things," Vanlash growled, as he pushed the teenager in front of him, "You didn't tell them anything, did you?"

"No."

"Glad you finally learned the lesson," Vanlash looked down at the property before him, "We don't want another, problem, do we?"

He shook his head, the last thing he wanted was to have another problem.


	4. Numb

**Holy shit, I don't know what's coming over me! All of a sudden I must write Hidden Bars! Which totally rocks with me because I have had this story for **_**years**_**, and now it feels like it's getting on the right track. I even made a little story guide on how I want the story to go! Never done that before...**

**Anyway, I really hope that I can have the heart to finish this story. I always felt bad that it was incomplete. Maybe one day it won't be! I'm totally taking this story to a different angle, so don't be expecting a lot I had in the first one. Hope you like it all the same though.**

**Please read and review, I know I am pretty bad with the whole reviewing thing sometimes. But it always helps to hear how much you have enjoyed the story.**

**I don't own DBZ, yo**

_**Last time on Hidden Bars:**_

"_I wish that my son, Son Gohan, return to planet Earth."_

"_The human of which you speak of, Son Gohan, has been claimed, and I cannot allow his return."_

"_It means...That granting that wish, would be illegal in the Eastern part of the Universe. To order to bring the kid back, you need permission from the owner."_

"_::I won't let that monster have him,::" his voice became stern, as if he was getting into battle, which was a tone that Gokuu had never used on her, "::I won't allow it.::"_

"_Dragon, please grant my wish," her voice was loud and deep, "Bring back the man I love, Son Gokuu, back from the dead."_

"_76646426." _

"_What does your collar do?"_

"_It's a symbol," the teenager looked up, "Of ownership."  
_

* * *

**Hidden Bars**

Numb

_-Son Akito_

They always stood by and watched.

Not once did they ever help him, not once.

Even when his life was at stake.

He knew they didn't care of him as a human being, the collar proved that. The beatings proved that. The past years have shown that they did not once care about him. He was nothing but a tool to them; yet there had been many times that the tool has almost been broken.

And even he knew they would be lost without him.

The teenager was faced with an army of people, he glanced back at the four behind him, who watching him intensely. He turned back around to face the people, a part of him didn't want to do what he was about to do.

The collar didn't give him a choice in the matter, he didn't even remember what a choice _felt_ like. He couldn't remember what _anything_ felt like. Something within the collar around his neck suppressed him of feelings, all that was around him was numbness.

"_Stop it, please," _the people cried.

"_Save us, someone." _they screamed as their bodies were burned in his chi.

He attacked the army, he attacked the cities, he killed innocent men, women and children who were only protecting their homes. Within a blink of an eye, they vanished from site and into thin air. Their ashes circling around him, before hitting the ground and being swept away by another attack.

Once his mission was completed, he stared blankly at the ruined land. Trying to place a feeling, trying to place a thought, but nothing came to him. No matter how hard he tried, all he was able to do was watch as everything around him was fading away.

"I will kill you," before he was able to turn around, a man from the world he had just destroyed grabbed him from behind and began to chock him, "You will pay for what you have done."

His eyes glanced back at the man before him, as he grabbed on to his arm, "I'm sorry," his voice was hollow and empty.

"You're sorry?" The man screamed, "That's all you can say after you killed my family, my home, my world. You are nothing but a monster. Don't insult me with your apology," The man tighten his grip around the teenager.

"Should we do it?" Tomack grinned at Weller as he saw the man attacking their pet, "You'll know it will be a lot of fun."

Weller looked up at Vanlash, "Have a problem with it?"

Vanlash laughed, "Why would I give a damn?"

Then, something was happening to him, the grip the man had around him was getting tighter. His breathing was slowing down, his heart was racing...

They had changed his power level.

The man watched the teenager turned blue, "I'm going to end your life, murder, it's the least you deserve."

And all of a sudden, he had felt something. It was a feeling that he couldn't describe with words. Whatever feeling it was, it over came him. Covered his body, his mind, his heart with this one feeling. It overtook him, leaving him helpless to follow it's instincts.

"Go right ahead," he whispered to the man, as his voice expressed itself fully with the feeling, "I deserve it."

"What do you mean?" The man asked, not letting go of his grip, he glanced at the teen in confusion.

He coughed out, trying to get a breath of air, as he half heartily smiled up at the man, "I've done so many horrible things."

He started feeling weak, his knees giving out and crashing to the ground.

The man loosen his grip, and stared down at him. Something inside of the man felt sorry for the teenager in his grip. The man hesitated on what to do, as he began to shake. He shook his head, "I can't kill you," he whispered.

The teenager looked at him, confusion written all over his face, "Why?" he finally breathed out as the man let go of him.

The man couldn't answer, as the teenager stood on his feet to face the man. He saw a look in that man's eyes he had never seen before, "But–I..."

Before he was able to finish, a beam of light flashed behind the man. The teenager watched as the man's head slowly slide off his shoulders. He gasped at the sight of the man's blood.

"What the fuck was that?" Rexter screamed, walking up to the teenager, "Were you talking to that thing?"

He didn't answer her, he didn't even know where he was anymore, all he could watch is that man's blood covering the floor. Soon, everything left him; his strength, the feeling, everything.

The collar was back to normal, leaving him to feel nothing but numbness.

Rexter punched the teenager across the face, causing him to fall over backwards. She grabbed him by his shirt before he hit the ground, "Your job is to plug the world, not to make friends with it's beings."

She hit him again, and all he could do was feel the physical pain of her strike.

Vanlash appeared by her side, as Tomack and Weller followed behind. They stared at the teenager at first, before turning to each other.

"What kind of punish seems fit for this, insanity?" Rexter asked, eyeing Vanlash with a grin across her face.

Vanlash eyed the teenager, before returning Rexter's glance, "He needs to feel it," Vanlash began to laugh, "You heard me, you're gonna feel it tonight," he picked up the teen by his shirt, and he threw him a few feet back.

It hurt once he hit the ground, as he winced in pain. He tried getting up, he put all his power into it. But, they didn't give him enough to stand on his own.

"Go get him Tomack," Vanlash called, as the other two began to walk back to the ship, "Weller set the settings so you can have some fun with him."

Tomack laughed, as he jogged to the teenager, "You got it, Vanlash."

**Hours later...**

The color red filled the room; even when he closed his eyes, all he saw was that horrible redness.

He fell, hitting the wet floor. Everything wrecked of blood, he slammed his palm on the blood under him, pushing himself up.

"You might as well act dead," Tomack frowned, the teenager never seemed to go down without a fight, it annoyed the hell out of him, "You'll be just as well be dead when I'm done with you."

He stood there, watching Tomack as he flew up to him, punching him in the stomach. He gasped for air, falling right back to the ground. He coughed, as more blood of his splattered on the deck of the ship. Everything was feeling fuzzy, as if he could go to sleep.

No matter how many times Tomack beat him, no matter how many hours have gone by, he couldn't emotionally feel anything about it. The physical pain he felt was unbearable, but he never felt sad, or angry, or revengeful.

Sometimes that felt like a blessing, but he always wondered what it felt like to be happy. He couldn't remember the life he lived once before. The teenager wasn't sure if that was because of the collar, or if he been beaten so much that the memories slipped from his mind, but he was sure that he was happy at one time.

It was a numbing feeling, he had so much feeling within the body, but none when it came to the heart. He even wondered if he had a heart, everything he had done would have ripped him from one long ago. The feeling he felt earlier with that man, he wished he knew what it was.

That thought stuck in his mind for the rest of the beating. Tomack would raise his hand, hit him, he would fall to the ground and bleed, just to get back up again and think. At one point, he couldn't remember anything that Tomack was doing, all he wanted to do what figure out that feeling he felt back there. He had gone without feelings for so long that the first time he had ever felt one, he couldn't place what he was feeling. He thought it was unfair, he should know what feelings he was feeling, rather then being left out of the loop within his own being.

Tomack laughed at him, he yelled at him, he spit on him, he did so many things that ran off feelings. He had done things, but unlike his owners it didn't run off any kind of emotion. Something deep inside of him was telling him to do these things, it was controlling him entirely.

He had always wonder if he still had feelings if the collar ever did come off, where they sucked away forever? Even if the unlikely event that they took this horrible symbol off him, would he be able to feel it?

Tomack had pinned him into the wall, as the teenager heard him unzip his pants. He closed his eyes tightly, as Tomack began another type of torture.

Maybe it was okay not to feel some things.


	5. Free

**Seriously, HOOYAH on updates! This is chapter five, and I still have plans on where this story is going. How much would that rock if I wrote the whole story? I was like twenty-something chapters into the first Hidden Bars, it was almost done too, but I seriously couldn't think on how to end it. I had the idea, but I couldn't write it. Now, this idea is different and I can write it!**

**For all of you who liked the little sister, I regret to inform you that she will not be in this version of Hidden Bars. There will be different characters that will be introduce in the next chapter. If it makes you feel any better, I had to come up with two characters to replace one.**

**I don't own the wonderful world of Dragonball Z. But I did make up like most of these characters. Just a little FYI **

_**Last time on Hidden Bars:**_

_He was nothing but a tool to them; yet there had been many times that the tool has almost been broken._

_And even he knew they would be lost without him._

_The collar didn't give him a choice in the matter, he didn't even remember what a choice felt like._

_He attacked the army, he attacked the cities, he killed innocent men, women, and children who were only protecting their homes._

"_I will kill you," before he was able to turn around, a man from the world he had just destroyed grabbed him from behind and began to chock him, "You will pay for what you have done."_

"_Should we do it?" Tomack grinned at Weller as he saw the man attacking their pet, "You'll know it will be a lot of fun."_

_Then, something was happening to him, the grip the man had around him was getting tighter. His breathing was slowing down, his heart was racing..._

_They had changed his power level._

"_Go right ahead," he whispered to the man, as his voice expressed itself fully with the feeling, "I deserve it."_

_He didn't answer her, he didn't even know where he was anymore, all he could watch is that man's blood covering the floor. Soon, everything left him; his strength, the feeling, everything._

_The collar was back to normal, leaving him to feel nothing but numbness._

* * *

**Hidden Bars**

Free

_- Son Akito_

It was always nice when he arrived to a new world and it didn't end up being destroyed by his hand. The ship landed, he could feel the ship itself shift as it hit the world. The number looked up from inside his empty room, hoping that he would be able to see the sky.

His head turned as his owner Vanlash entered the room, brushing his long red hair out of his eyes, "We're going into town."

Shaking his head, he stood up and followed his master though the door. He watched as the three others stayed behind. He had wondered why he was going with Vanlash alone, but that thought had cleared his head as he looked up into the sky.

The sky was such a wonderful color, his eyes widen at the blue sky. It was so peaceful. He couldn't remember a time when the sky was this beautiful.

The sun had touched his pale skin, he had winced at the feeling as the heat touched him. The ship was such a cold place, as well as the star covered space, it had been a long time since the warmth of the sun touched his skin.

He followed a few feet behind his owner. His eyes glanced around the world's citizens, they were happy, laughing, and with their families.

A strange thought entered the number's mind, but it escaped as soon as his owner turned around and yelled at him to keep up.

As he began to run up to his master, he heard loud foot prints behind him, "Hey, move it!" Before he was able to turn around, something hit him, causing both him and it to hit the ground.

He blinked a few times in confusion, before rolling over to see a girl next to him, she was covered in a long brown hood, "I'm sorry," he spoke to her without any form of expression.

"What's with your voice?" She asked, as both him and her stood up, "Are you okay?"

"Yes," he blinked at her.

"What the hell are you doing?" He looked behind him to see his owner running up to him, "What did I just-" Vanlash looked up and saw the girl, "Princess, what an honor to see you."

The pet had turned around to face the girl he ran into, he had wondered what a Princess such as herself was doing outside her home, and wondered why his master was so nice to her. He didn't think about it long, before his master grabbed him by the back of his collar, "We were off to see your father," Vanlash commented, as he pulls his pet in front of him, "Is he at the palace?"

He didn't know why, but the Princess did not keep her eyes off him. It made him uncomfortable in a way. He redirected his eyes towards the sky and tried to think of something else.

"I'll join you," the Princess walked in front of Vanlash and up to him, "You may let go of him," she pointed to the teenager, "And we can all walk together as equals."

Vanlash growled before he let go of the collar. He glanced back at his owner, and saw anger in his eyes.

"Hey," the Princess turned her head towards him, as he turned his head away from his owner and faced her, "What's your name?"

"76646426," he whispered to her.

She shook her head, "Not that name," she gave him a small smile, "Your real name."

The number didn't answer, his name was the only thing he could really remember about his formal life. He didn't want his master to know it, he didn't want anyone to know it. It was the only true memory he had, the only thing that wasn't tainted.

The Princess waited for her answer, and once she realized that he wasn't going to tell her, she turned to Vanlash, "Do you know his name?"

Vanlash turned his eyes away from her, "I don't care what his name is."

The Princess and his master exchanged words to one another, but all the number could do was walk beside them quietly and truly cherish his name.

Once they reached the palace's gates, the Princess turned to both of them, "I must return before my father notices I am missing," she once again smiled at the teenager, "I enjoyed our walk," with that, she ran from them and into another entrance of the palace.

When she was out of eye site, Vanlash glared at his pet as he dug in his pocket. Just then, a sharp pain came from around his neck and passed though out his body. Vanlash had triggered the collar to hurt him, "Don't you dare say a word for the rest of this."

He shook his head, as the pain was starting to make him dizzy. He took a step forward, trying to balanced himself from hitting the ground.

His owner began to walk towards the gate, the number looked up, still in pain from the collar. He knew that if he was further behind something far worst would happen. The number gathered the little strength he had and caught up to his owner.

The guards of the palace let them though, and at the entrance of the great building stood the King and his daughter.

"Vanlash," the Kind called, as Vanlash got on one knee and bowed to him, the number followed his moments, "And who is this?" The King eyed the pet.

His owner stood up, brushing himself off, "He is no concern to our business meeting."

The King walked up to the teenager, as the pet quickly stood up, "He looks like he is around my daughter's age," the King placed his hand on his shoulder, "How old are you, son?"

The number turned to his owner, he had debated if he should answer the King or not, but even if he did, he was still unsure of his age. The number lost sight of the years he had been in space, he felt like was in his late teen years, but he wasn't sure. The number shook his head, declaring that he didn't not know his age.

"You know," the King said, letting go of the pet and turning to his owner, "We forbid slavery on this side of the Universe."

Vanlash grinned, "You still have to obey the side that allows it, King."

The King turned his head, "The deal is off."

"What?" Vanlash screamed, "What the fuck changed all of a sudden?"

The King turned to pet and smirked, "The kid here."

Vanlash turned towards his pet, "What the hell does he have to do with anything? Don't piss me off, I will make him destroy this world."

The number didn't react to the claim that his owner made, but only looked up at the blue sky above him.

"How?" the Princess interpreted the conversation and walked towards the teenager, she lightly touched the collar that hung from his neck, as the number jerked his head back, "With that?"

She turned to the pet and waited for him to answer, but the pet knew damn well not to discuss the collar.

"You know that control devices are against the law in all sides of the Universe," The Princess glanced up at her father, "I am not sure what kind of deal you are making with him father, but I would suggest to end all business ties with him."

Vanlash laughed at her, "I am above the law, Princess. And the matters between your father and I are only between us. You are not Queen yet, my dear," he turned towards the King, "I am getting tired of this, and you know damn well you need my support for this."

The King shook his head, "I know what I need to do, but lets have a trade off," The King glanced back at the teenager, "I have heard your recent stories about complete destruction of worlds, is it because of him?"

The pet started to feel faint, his source of energy was running out, he blinked a few times as the pain made his eye sight go in and out.

"Only the few, the best, can protect my daughter, and there is something about this boy that I like," the King noticed as the teenager's eyes were going in and out of focus, "Stop whatever you are doing to him."

Vanlash reached into his pocket and pulled out a remote, placing his finger on the sensor, it stopped the pain that was coming from the collar and gave him a bit more power that he returned to a steady state, "What are you declaring?" Vanlash put the remote back in his pocket.

"All deals will be made," the King placed his hand on the pet's shoulder, "For the boy."

"You have to be crazy," Vanlash screamed, grabbing the back of his collar and pulling his pet back from the King, "I'm not going to hand you something like him."

"Then you do not have my support," the King breathed.

Vanlash eyed his pet, before eyeing the King. He growled loudly, as he reached in his pocket and threw the remote to the King.

The King caught the remote, before grinning at Vanlash, "It's a deal."

Vanlash didn't respond, he didn't do anything but stare at his pet.

The teenager didn't know what was going on, was he just freed from his master's grip? Was he not considered a slave anymore? So many thoughts ran though his mind that all he was able to do was blink as the remote that was in the King's hand.

"Just do whatever the fuck you want once I'm off this planet," Vanlash watched as the King shook his head in agreement, as Vanlash turned and walked away.

The teenager blinked, he watched as his master walked away until he was no longer able to see him. He was frozen as the spaceship he was on hit the sky and flew away from the world he was on.

He said nothing as the King walked up to him, placing his hand on the teenager's shoulder, "Can you be trusted without this thing around your neck?"

The teenager turned his eyes from the sky and stared at the King.

"He can father," the Princess walked up to her father, "I can tell that he will be okay."

The King smiled at the Princess, "I'm glad we agree on one thing."

It was only a few seconds, he was sure of that, but the moment that the collar was released from his neck and hit the ground felt like an eternity. His eyes watched as the collar laid on the floor in front of him.

Without warning, the first thing that returned to him was his chi. The saiyan felt his energy flowing though his body. There was so much of it that it made the teenager's eyes widen. It had been such a long time since he felt his chi like this. Without thinking about it, his chi raised up to it's real normal state, and not the power level the collar had it at. He felt his chi circling his body, and without powering himself up, the saiyan could feel how strong he was.

It was a chilling feeling, that he was this powerful. He had wondered why he was this much stronger, it was so much stronger then before all this. He was sure of that. His kind was always strong, he remembered that much, but never this strong.

It was upsetting him. Upsetting that he had to be this strong, he had no reason to be. He never did any of the fighting though out the years, it was that collar, that horrible collar that took away everything from him.

His eyes glanced back at the collar that was sitting on the ground. It sat there and mocked him, it was the one thing that couldn't make the teenager be him. It was that one thing that made him the way he was...

...This thing that he wasn't sure of.

The saiyan bit his lip, trying his hardest to suppress his anger, the anger that a little thing such as that collar took so much away from him. If that thing was never on him, he knew that he could have beaten Vanlash and his crew long ago and be able to go back to his normal life.

The longer he stared at that collar on the ground, the more the room seemed to spin. He couldn't look away from it, it was controlling him once again to have this feeling of hate enter his mind. Hating that object on the ground, hating that horrible crew that beat him day in and day out.

Hating himself for allowing it to happen.

The Princess gasped, as the teenager in front of her changed. His hair that hung down at the center of his back stood straight up, it once being jet black and now being a bright gold. Electricity seemed to circle around him, and the whole palace seemed to shake. She watched as the person before her became something else.

He had changed, he had changed to something even they couldn't get out of him. He changed his true warrior form, the super saiyan.

The super saiyan, without a thought, gathered a ball of chi within his hand. His green eyes that were once black stared down at his target. A scream escaped his lips as that ball flew out his hands and destroyed the collar under him.

The ashes from the collar moved up and circled around him, but the powerful electricity around him destroyed the ash before it touched him. His eyes stared and the hole on the ground he had just created.

Before he had a chance to react to it, a flash back hit his mind. The flash back of the last few years of everything he had done. Being taken from his world, being forced to be a slave, destroying other worlds, being beaten in so many different ways. Wanting to feel something but no matter how long he stayed up at night, he couldn't feel anything.

Now all these feelings were rushing past him. He was feeling again. All this that he just did, it was off a reaction of an emotion. It was something that he did because he felt like it.

It was a scary feeling, as the super saiyan deformed back into the jet black haired teenager he once was. Falling to his knees, he was finally able to feel.

All he was able to feel was anger and hate.

Slamming his fist into the ground, he let his tears fall. The first tears that he had ever cried, dropped from his eye lids and hit the ground before him. He shook at the sight of them. So many nights he thought that he would be crying if he could, but he was never able to feel that way. He had thought it was unhealthy not to feel any form of emotion, that he was missing out of everything because of it.

His eyes shed more tears, they fell because the only thing that came to mind was how much he hated it all. He had wished that having the collar off would mean that he could be happy or grateful, anything but this hard feeling of hate. This feeling that wasn't shaking off no matter how much he tried.

A soft hand landed on his back, as the saiyan shot his eyes and looked over at the person who touched him. It was the Princess.

"So," she said as she patted his back softly, "What's your name?"

He felt like he needed to tell her, he chocked when answering, "Gohan."

He looked at her soft smile, and in a way it made him feel even worst. Even though her father was nice enough to take off the collar, in a way he was still controlled by them. He wasn't able to go off and find his home again, wherever that was. And the thought of not remembering where he was from made him feel horrible another hundred times over. He hoped those memories would return to him, but he wasn't sure if they would.

He had no where else to go, and even if he did want to go home, he didn't think the King would let him off so easily.

More tears ran past his eyes, because even though Gohan was free from the collar, he wasn't exactly free.

**On the ship...**

"What the hell did you do?" Tomack looked at his leader with pure confusion, "Why did you give up the kid so easily?"

They waited for their leader to speak, but all he did was laugh. He started laughing so hard that tears ran down his face.

"Tell us," Rexter crossed her arms, "Stop with the laughing."

Vanlash stopped laughing and glared at the party, "Don't worry about him, we'll get in back in time. Just wait and see."

They knew better then to deny their leader.


	6. Angry

"I don't know why they need _another _one," the man before the saiyan sighed, "I don't even know why _I'm_ here. The Princess can take care of herself."

The saiyan didn't respond, instead he stayed a few steps away from the man, slightly looking down as they walked. He had been there for two days, and for those two days he was allowed to rest and to be cleaned up.

The saiyan couldn't remember the last time he slept in a real bed or took a nice long bath. The two days were nice and relaxing.

He was bored though, which worried the saiyan. He hoped he wasn't bored because he was alone. Being alone was better then being with them; but it was odd to him that the first break he had in four years he couldn't feel anything but boredom.

Now he was walking behind this man. Who was a lot taller then the saiyan was, with his short white hair, his dark blue eyes. The man had to be a few years older then the saiyan, around his early twenties. Though his personality was that of a fifteen year old.

"You're really quiet," the man commented, glaring back at the teenager, "It's kind of annoying."

"Sorry," he quietly replied, his voice dry and empty. He wasn't use to words yet.

"What's your name anyway?" The man stopped and turned around the face the saiyan.

"766--" The saiyan paused for just a moment, forgetting he no longer had that number, "Gohan."

The man raised his eyebrow when he started spitting out numbers, but once he said a name he relaxed a bit, "I'm Hazuki."

The saiyan silently shook his head, as Hazuki turned back around, "You know it's okay to say stuff."

Gohan didn't respond, even if he could find his voice he didn't have anything to say to the man, anyway. He didn't know what to say about anything. The past two days people from the kingdom approached him with so many questions. He would stare at them when they questioned him. It was simple questions; asking him what kind of clothes he wanted to wear, what he wanted to eat, how many blankets he needed at night. Such elementary questions, but their words felt complex to him. As if they were speaking a different language, but he heard their words perfectly.

His voice was so soft. The people had a hard time understanding him because his voice was so low and hollow, it was as if no emotions were put behind his words. He noticed as the people glanced back at one another, as if he was the one speaking the different language. He would try to speak up, but his voice cut him off and spoke with only a whisper.

They walked in silence until they reached the Princess' door, "Anyway," he said loudly, breaking the silence between them, "This is the Princess' room. Every morning at nine we come here and knock on the door. She takes forever getting ready--"

"I heard that," came the Princess' voice though the door.

"-- And then we take her where ever she and her worker-bee needs to go. Sometimes there is nothing planned so we all hang out. Do normal stuff, like train and talk. Those days are pretty cool," he spoke as he knocked the Princess' door, hearing her voice before but deciding to ignore it, "But we won't know what the schedule is until the Princess and Eva come out of the room."

The saiyan shook his head, glancing back at the door. Hazuki followed his glance, "They normally take forever," he winked at Gohan, "You know how girls are."

The saiyan opened his mouth but quickly closed it, he actually didn't anything about girls. The man lifted his eyebrow again, "Just say whatever you want, man. I'm not going to do anything."

Before either of them could say another world, a girl stuck her head out of the door, "Um... It's going to be just a second," and she shut the door behind her quickly. The saiyan couldn't see anything but her long blonde hair and purple eyes.

"That's Eva," Hazuki pointed towards the door, "She's the "worker-bee" I mentioned earlier. She helps the Princess with her schedule and stuff. They have actually known each other their whole lives. Eva's dad was the general in the Army before her father and mother died. Now she lives here with us. I guess you can say the three of us are kind of like misfits."

The saiyan blinked at the story, and curiously over came him. He wondered why Hazuki considered himself a "misfit." Though, he didn't ask.

Hazuki raised his eyebrow (the saiyan realizing this is a common reaction for the man) and laughed, "If you must know, my parents died too."

Before the teenager was able to respond, the girls walked out of the room. Gohan was able to get a better look at Eva. She was the shortest one out of the four of them, her long blond hair touching her lower back. Her purple eyes glancing up curiously at the saiyan. He felt his cheeks getting hot by her stare.

"Gohan," he directed his eyes towards the Princess. He didn't really notice her features before, but she had brown short hair and brown big eyes. Normal features for most people in the universe, Gohan came to realize.

"You're looking much better," the saiyan shook off his thoughts, silently giving her a small nod. She walked up to him, "I'm glad."

"He needs to talk more," Hazuki complained, stretching out his arms, "I'm bored with him already."

"Hazuki," Eva shot a glare at Hazuki, "Shut up. He's shy that's all."

"I'm going to break him out of that habit," Hazuki growled, glaring at Eva.

"You can't do anything for him," she shouted back, "He'll talk more once he feels at home. He just got here you know."

"Still," Hazuki yawned, "I'm bored."

The Princess and the saiyan watched the two fighting, the Princess looked over at the saiyan and smiled, "Don't worry, I didn't tell either of them," she gave the teenager a small wink.

It didn't matter if they knew, he thought, as he watched them go on with their fighting. The Princess shook her head, stepping between the two, "Stop it."

"But AJ," Eva lied, grabbing ahold of her hand, "Your body guard started it."

"I have a name you know," he barked back at the girl, "I'm not just her body guard. And you can't say that anymore because there are two of us."

"You guys should take shifts," Eva blinked, grinning at her idea while turning towards the saiyan, "Then you can have days off and stuff."

"That's a great idea, Eva," Hazuki grinned down at Eva, patting her on the head, "You're smart."

She rolled her eyes at him, moving her head slightly so his hand would no longer be on her head, "Can they do that, AJ?"

"I don't see anything wrong with it," she smiled at Gohan, "Want to take the rest of the day off?"

"Why does HE get the first day?" Hazuki whinnied, "I've been by your side for FIVE years and this is the thanks I get?"

The Princess brushed him aside, "You must still be tired, I'm sure another break wouldn't be a problem. We don't have any plans for today."

"Yeah, take the day off Gohan." Hazuki grinned, realizing that since they didn't have any plans it would be best to take his day off another time when they had things to do.

The saiyan stared at them, it was as if their words weren't reaching him. He stayed back, his eyes widen, not speaking a word.

The Princess shot a look of concern, as she approached the teenager, "... Gohan?"

The other two looked back at each other and then turning their heads to the teenager.

It was like he was in a trance. It was as if he was in a far away world, and no matter how much they called his name he couldn't hear them. He was there. With them. He was in the battles. In the beatings.

His heart was aching, it was as if he was reliving his past right in front of his eyes. It was as if he could feel them beating him again, it was as if he could feel the dead bodies around him. The color red, it was everywhere...

"Dude," Hazuki walked passed the Princess, shaking Gohan violently, "Hey!"

The shook brought the teenager back to his senses, glancing up at Hazuki, before directing his eyes to the Princess and Eva. He couldn't understand the look in their eyes, but he didn't like it. He didn't want them to have those looks in his eyes.

He did something that he never had done before, but he laughed. It was a small laugh, and it was filled with nervousness, "I--" he voice was still missing and it was in a whisper, "Sorry."

Hazuki slammed the teenager's back, "Hey don't--"

Before Hazuki could say another thing, he glanced down at the saiyan and saw his eyes light up in rage. There was a heavy silence in the air. His eyes widen, the saiyan's power raised and it was something Hazuki didn't want to mess with. He slowly inched his hand away from the saiyan, bringing it down to his side.

It took the saiyan to realize what he had done, he was angry. He didn't meant to be angry and that was the last thing he wanted to feel towards these new people. It was an emotion, it was trigged because his mind felt like it needed to be. For some reason he was so angry, and he didn't understand stand his feelings.

It had been a long time since he was able to feel anything, he needed to calm down and try to get use to humanity again.

"Gohan..." The Princess walked up to him slowly, "Want to take the rest of the day off?"

He sighed, forming a small smile on his face.

The Princess' eyes seemed to widen.

It was from then on she could tell that all his smiles were fake.

"Sorry," he softly said, before turning around and walking back to his room. The three of them watched him quietly until he was out of sight.

"I don't trust him," Hazuki snorted, breaking the silence between them.

"Why was he looking at you like that," Eva asked, grabbing onto his arm, "And his power level..."

The Princess sighed, closing her eyes, "Don't worry about it." It wasn't her place to say what had happened to Gohan before he came to their world. She didn't know anything about Gohan, but knowing that he was with Vanlash, she was certain his past was anything but easy, "Let's go train, Hazuki."

He grinned, as if he forgot about the teenager, "Alright."

"Oh, please be careful," Eva sighed, as the three of them walked away from the room and outside.

As the three of them where outside training, enjoying the weather, their freedom, their strength...

Gohan laid down, brining his knees softly to his chest. He was weeping softly.

It was always going to haunt him.


	7. Dreams

**Yes, yes I _know _it's been a while. Plus, I mean, does anyone ever read DBZ anymore? Man I sure hope so! DBZ can never get old if you ask me~ Anyway. Yep, it's Son Akito here, updating her story... I know it's amazing, right? Who knew I still even remembered this story? Anyway, it's kind of short, but it's the thought that counts, yes?**

**I don't own DBZ**

* * *

_Hidden Bars_

_Dreams_

_-Son Akito_

Gohan wasn't use to all this free time.

The Princess seemed to have a full schedule. She was always running around meeting new people, making guest appearances, lectures with her father, full time school work… And so many other things the guardian couldn't keep track of.

The Guardians didn't do much then be personal body guards. It was quite boring. It bothered the saiyan that when he finally was able to relax he was _bored_. At least he had Hazuki around. The King quickly got rid of their switching days off, so the both of them followed behind the Princess, sensing the room for any dangers.

There were none. There was never anything exciting going on.

And the saiyan still didn't understand why that bothered him so much.

Hazuki tried his best to keep them both entertained, but the saiyan didn't know how to react to his character. He was so out spoken, almost rude but at the same time very hilarious. When some of his jokes made sense to Gohan, he cracked somewhat of a smile and Hazuki always grinned.

"I knew I'd get you, you heartless bastard!"

Sometimes Eva would stand with them as the Princess went on with hear daily events. Her and Gohan would talk mainly about life – not his life – but her life with AJ. Gohan never really talked, but listened as Eva told him about the Princess. Whenever her name came up, his eyes seem to glisten. Hazuki would notice this and always nudge Gohan.

"Not a good idea to date the boss, man," he teased, and each time Gohan would lower his head and lightly blush.

When the saiyan first started working, he noticed that Eva and Hazuki would never approach him, never look at him, and for the most part left the saiyan alone completely. It worried the saiyan, feeling that maybe he was too screwed up to ever again experience human contact. He'd stand back and watch as those two interacted with each other, and when the Princess was able to talk to them the three of them laughed and giggled all the time. The saiyan would stay back and start to think.

He'd think of all the horrible things he'd done, and he didn't blame them for not wanting to include him.

Sometimes the memories were too much and when he wanted to cry or scream he bite his tongue and never showed it. This left him in a trance like state; trying to focus himself to not show any weak emotion, but the memory would still be dancing in his head.

AJ would shake him when this happened, "… Gohan?" She'd whisper each time.

He'd look over at her, "Yes?" He'd chock out, as if he still was trying to find his voice. He'd look up at Hazuki and Eva, who both were still engulfed in their conversation. Most of the time they were still on the same topic before he spaced out, which meant he wasn't out for long.

"Making sure you're okay, that's all." She gave him a small smile, before turning back to the other two to continue their conversation.

And he'd still be left alone in the dark.

Gohan didn't know why or how it happened, but though out time the three of them including him in their conversations. Maybe they got so use to him being around, or the Princess talked them into it, but something happened and they started talking to him.

It didn't make him think so much, so he was grateful.

He still didn't talk, and when he did his voice was soft and empty. It bothered him. He wanted to be able to find his voice and be confident when he spoke like the other three were. AJ would smile at him softly every time he spoke and tried to be a part of the group. When she did that he felt like he was on a stage; and the stage lights would burn his eyes so he wasn't able to see the crowd below. And the crowd would sit there and wait for him to say his first line but it was lost within the hot lights.

He'd always lose his train of thought then, and would continue to sit back and enjoy listening to the other three.

One thing that the saiyan made him happy was when he picked up school. AJ was attending one of the greatest schools in the world, and in each class Gohan would take his note book and take notes for the class. Even though he was not a student, he couldn't help but to study the martial and be fascinated by each subject. Math and science were his specialty and many times he would tutor the Princess when she was having trouble.

"Wow, Gohan," she smiled up at him, "You're really good at this stuff."

"Thanks," he's say; he seemed lost in thought, "My mom always made sure I studied every day."

"Your mom?" She asked, leaning forward, "That's the first time I've ever heard you mention a family."

Gohan didn't answer, that was the first time he ever _remembered_ anything about his past.

And that is when the dreams started.

His dreams would always start out sitting at a dinner table with a bunch of paper work, books, rulers, pens, and pencils all around him. The room was silence as he sit down and study.

"Oh look at my little boy!" He couldn't look up from his paper work but he felt small familiar hands rest on his shoulders, "You're going to be a wonderful scholar one day I know it!"

"Thanks mom," he'd say glancing back down at his paper work. Yet this time the paper work was covered in blood.

His eyes would widen, as he push himself away from the table, and when he was able to look up at the hands at the person who was touching him it was Tomack.

"No…" He'd try to get away but when he looked down the collar was around his neck and he was unable to escape.

The dream always woke him up covered in sweat. Most of the time he would be able to wake himself up before anything worse would happen.

Yet, sometimes he was able to look away from the paper work and see whose hands were truly on his shoulders. He couldn't make out anything but her tightly binned hair and her dark brown eyes. Those eyes were firm and strong, but they also had a softness that only he could make out.

It was only a dream though, he knew that but it was still nice to dream up something that was familiar to him, only if it was for a second.


	8. Dance

_**Last time on Hidden Bars:**_

_Sometimes the memories were too much and when he wanted to cry or scream he bite his tongue and never showed it. This left him in a trance like state; trying to focus himself to not show any weak emotion, but the memory would still be dancing in his head._

_AJ would shake him when this happened, "… Gohan?" She'd whisper each time._

_***_

"_Your mom?" She asked, leaning forward, "That's the first time I've ever heard you mention a family."_

_Gohan didn't answer, that was the first time he ever __remembered__ anything about his past._

_And that is when the dreams started._

_***_

_Yet, sometimes he was able to look away from the paper work and see whose hands were truly on his shoulders. He couldn't make out anything but her tightly binned hair and her dark brown eyes. Those eyes were firm and strong, but they also had a softness that only he could make out._

_It was only a dream though, he knew that but it was still nice to dream up something that was familiar to him, only if it was for a second._

* * *

**Hidden Bars**

Dance

_-Son Akito_

The wing blew past her, strains of her hair floating around her as she breathed in deeply.

Finally, she was alone.

She knew when sneaking out off on her own she could possibly get Hasuko and Gohan ins a lot of trouble, but she had to risk it. _I'm 16 years old, _she often thought to herself, _can't I just be by myself for a while?_

She loved to be alone. It was the one time she didn't have to pretend she knew what she was doing.

AJ sighed deeply—She has no idea what the hell she was doing.

***

Gohan's eyes hot wide open, sitting straight up from his bed.

The dream… And this time he wasn't able to see the woman he called "mom." Instead… Instead he wasn't able to wake up quick enough. Tomack always had his fun with him.

The teenager never was able to get enough sleep. The same dream always woke him up at night, and always around the same time.

Strangely the collar never gave him nightmares or dreams.

And he was scared of them. No matter how many times the same dream presented itself.

Swinging his legs over the side of his bed, Gohan looked over at the time. 0345.

He sensed this Princess out of her room.

The saiyan quickly mastered his skills that were locked away by the collar-sensing chi, flying, powering up- all these abilities were second nature to him. He knew he could control his ultimate form- the super saiyan- but no was not the time to transform. He hadn't transformed since the day he destroyed the collar.

The guardian stood up and began to put on his clothes. He knew the Princess wasn't far and had no one around her.

What was she doing on her own? Clearly her father would not allow this.

Once he was dressed, Gohan opened his window and floated softly to the ground. She was by the big tree that stood in the middle of the garden.

Gohan started walking towards the tree. As he started getting closer he saw a figure moving around the tree. For some reason the guardian suppressed his chi ever so slightly so the figure would not be able to sense him. He watched as the figure moved gracefully along with the wing, as if it was dancing with it.

Gohan knew by her chi that it was the Princess, yet his eyes still widen when he sat that she was the distance figure.

***

The one thing AJ did in the middle of the night was the one thing no one knew about. She closed her eyes, gave out a long breath, and raised her arms to the sky. She was focusing on her chi, letting it roam free within her body without the need to power up. She could feel her energy moving around inside of her.

Lowering her arms, AJ slowly stepped to her right, swinging her arm in a circler motion until her palms touched the sky. The wing picking up around her, her eyes remained closed as she moved with the wing. It was as if she and it were dancing partners and it had taken her under its wing. She couldn't help but to the feel the wind, feel her chi, feel at peace with herself and the world around her.

She was too engulfed in her peaceful state to notice Gohan watching her.

***

Gohan had never felt this before.

Her power was not as great as his own, but he was able to sense her powerful chi without the need to power up.

It was something so unique, so original that even when his father and him trained in the room of Spirit and Time they never active this state of control. They were able to stay in their warrior form in every day activities but it was nothing like this. Even then they couldn't move in their full power outside of the battlefield like she was able too.

He watched in amazement, not even realizing that he remembered something about his father.

Instead he watched how beautiful she was as she played with the wind. He watched how her hips moved, how her waist swayed, how her hair flew all around her face.

A feeling appeared from within Gohan. He wasn't sure what this feeling was but he couldn't help but to feel… He couldn't describe it, there were no words that could perfectly describe how he felt. A gentle smile formed and a light blush came to his cheeks.

Was this happiness?

For the first time the teenager felt the way he had always hoped he'd feel when the collar was removed from his neck.

The guardian felt a sudden change in the Princess' power level. He knew that she would stop dancing any second. He did the only thing he could think to do and that was to hide. He quickly hid himself behind one of the palace's walls.

***

AJ sighed deeply once again, letting her body return to its natural state. Her power level decreased back to it's normal level, and her muscles relaxed. She could never perform the dance as perfectly as—

She glanced down at her watch; it was almost four o'clock in the morning. She had to quickly make it back to her room before anyone realized she was gone. The last time she left in the middle of the night it caused a world-wide panic, and she only sneak away to the garden.

She surpassed her chi so no one would be able to sense her and quickly snuck back to her room. She knew the guard's schedule down pack, so going back to her room unnoticed was easy.

She made it back inside her room, and undressed herself. She still had a few hours of sleep before Eva would come to wake her.

Jumping back to her bed, she quickly fell asleep. It was such a great night to be alone.

***

Gohan had followed her without being noticed until she walked inside her bedroom. He stood at the edge of the doorway. He thought about telling her how beautiful she looked dancing, but he stopped himself. Clearly she didn't want anyone knowing about this, and he didn't want her to be angry with him for watching her.

Instead he walked away from her door, hoping to one day that she would tell him why she danced alone at night.


	9. Love

_**Last time on Hidden Bars:**_

_The one thing AJ did in the middle of the night was the one thing no one knew about. She closed her eyes, gave out a long breath, and raised her arms to the sky. She was focusing on her chi, letting it roam free within her body without the need to power up. She could feel her energy moving around inside of her._

_**_

_Gohan had never felt this before._

_Her power was not as great as his own, but he was able to sense her powerful chi without the need to power up._

_It was something so unique, so original that even when his father and him trained in the room of Spirit and Time they never active this state of control. They were able to stay in their warrior form in every day activities but it was nothing like this. Even then they couldn't move in their full power outside of the battlefield like she was able too._

_He watched in amazement, not even realizing that he remembered something about his father._

_**_

_A feeling appeared from within Gohan. He wasn't sure what this feeling was but he couldn't help but to feel… He couldn't describe it, there were no words that could perfectly describe how he felt. A gentle smile formed and a light blush came to his cheeks._

_Was this happiness?_

**Hidden Bars**

Love

_-Son Akito_

It was a nice a sunny day.

The birds were chirping, the grass was green, the sky was bright blue, the sun beat down just perfectly that it was the prefect day.

At least outside the castle walls it was a prefect day, but inside of them was a different story.

The King stood outside his balcony looking out into the city. He thought about how prefect this place was, and how differently it could all turn out. He thought about his daughter, and how much she reminded him of his late wife.

And then he thought of the boy, and he thought about his past.

The King had heard of the golden collar child who was strong enough to destroy worlds. He heard the stories about the hollow look in his eyes, but there were short moments that only for a second you could see his twisted pain.

He wondered if this was the best place for him. Clearly the child had to be under some supervision before being set free into the real world. What better way to learn this by guarding someone else.

This could be a huge mistake. That child could destroy them all. He knew this in the back of his mind, yet when he looked down into those twisted eyes he knew the boy could never do such things with his own free will.

Maybe this could be the one thing he could do to fix everything, maybe this was the only way to fix everything.

"Incoming message."

The King turned around to notice a red flash on his computer screen. Walking away from the balcony he turned to the screen.

"Accept message," the King spoke as the caller appeared before him.

"Turns out we have much to talk about," the caller spoke.

"Yes," the King turned his head to the window. Yes, saving that boy would be the only good thing he'd ever do, "Yes we do, Vanlash."

**

It had been a few days since Gohan caught AJ dancing in the middle of the night, and since then he hadn't been able to get his mind off her. All the could think about was her body moving in that prefect way, her small figure swaying back and forth. It was too much that every time he looked at the girl, a deep red blush came to his cheeks.

"It's so clear you're in love with her dude," Gohan glanced over to Hazuki, they both standing back in the distance as AJ gave one of her many speeches.

Gohan didn't say anything at first, but he thought of the idea. Was he in love? Or what was love? He had been trapped for so long that he didn't quite understand what that meant anymore.

"I mean, I see the way you look at her," he grinned, "And you gotta get that out of your head, ya hear, how can you protect her with those love sick puppy eyes of yours?"

"Wouldn't I be able to protect better?" Gohan looked out at the Princess, "If I was in love with her?"

Hazuki glanced over at Gohan, shocked at his answer before laughing, "Well, maybe. It depends on what kind of love you have for her."

"What do you mean on what kind of love?" Gohan asked, he never knew there were more then one type of love.

"Well," Hazuki turned to Gohan, with a huge grin on his face, "There is the type of love you have towards someone but it's more like a friendly love or a family love. Then there is the type that you think you are in love with them, but it turns out you were just filling a void you have deep inside of you. Then there is that one true love, that love that when you are around that person that you can't picture yourself without them. Sometimes it's kind of hard to figure out what type of love you have, but unless you have that one true love-love, don't waste your time with AJ."

"Why do you say that?" Gohan blinked, still trying to figure out the different types of love their are.

"Well," Hazuki turned back to AJ, with a more serious look on his face, "It's because that girl has been though a lot, and the last thing in this world we need is to her heart to break even more."

"Her heart is broken?" Gohan asked in an innocent tone, looking back at the Princess.

"I don't know all the details," Hazuki said, watching as the Princess finished her speech, her people clapped for her, yet he could tell that the smile she pasted on for these people were not her real smile. She looked perfectly happy but when he was around her as much as he had been the last few years, he was able to tell that she never really smiled. It sadden him because Hazuki was never like this, he never felt the need to mask himself and he was able to be free with his emotions. Even though he was there to watch after her, he knew he couldn't protect her from everything, "But I just know it is."

Gohan watched Hazuki's expression change as they talked about the Princess, and as Hazuki walked away towards the Princess he thought about her broken heart. As he walked up to the Princess and Hazuki he thought about when he found her dancing in the middle of the night and for some reason her broken heart made sense.

Was she dancing for someone? Was she dancing because of someone?

The young guard wanted to know the reasons. He wanted to know AJ so he could figure out what type of love he has for her.

"Great job AJ," Eva ran up to AJ, Hazuki, and Gohan with a huge smile on her face. She had been in the background talking to the officials, "They all just loved you and thought you did a great job."

"Really?" She smiled shyly, turning to the boys, "How did you two think I did okay? I was kind of nervous."

"Nervous?" Hazuki lifted his eyebrow, "You're a freakin' Princess, why do you have to be nervous if these guys like you or not."

"Because," AJ cheeks became red, "If they don't like me they won't ever support me when I become Queen. I need them on my side for official reasons."

"But why?" Hazuki asked, rubbing the back of his head, "I mean if you're Queen you should be able to do whatever you want."

"It doesn't work that way," Eva turned to Hazuki, "She can't snap her fingers and do whatever she pleases, there are a lot of steps in between she has to take."

"I don't get it," Hazuki started to become bored.

Yet Eva wouldn't leave it at that, "How do you not know this? It's simple really, once AJ becomes queen she will have many officials and with those officials they will decide what is best for her kingdom. If she has to do all that by herself she would surely go crazy. This way she has some help."

"I'm already going crazy," AJ breathed out, glancing over at Eva with a nervous smile on her face.

Gohan didn't say a word, but just watched as AJ moved, and he could tell she was burnt out.

"Let's do something fun," and without realizing it, the saiyan was speaking. The three of them glanced over at Gohan, surprised at him.

"... Like what?" AJ asked, shocked at Gohan's request.

And just like that Gohan was put on the spot light. He never did good on the spot light, and when he was put in this situation it was never a good thing.

Their glares reminded him of his past. Even though their surprise was by his idea, it was still surprise and he didn't like it.

It reminded him of fear, it reminded him that normal life would never be normal again. His eyes slightly widen, his breath quickly changed. He knew this change was happening and tried everything in his power to act normal.

To Eva and Hazuki it looked like he was just thinking about something to do, but to AJ it looked like something was happening to him.

"Hey, why don't you two head back home," AJ asked as she put her hand on Gohan's shoulder, gripping it to let him know that she knew something was wrong, "Gohan and I will think of something to do and get back to you."

"Okay," Eva said as she tugged Hazuki, "Let's go. You heard her."

"Buuut," Hazuki glanced behind him as he noticed AJ leading Gohan in the other direction.

"Just go," Eva dragged him back to the castle to let the Princess and her guard have some time alone.

AJ turned her head back, noticing Hazuki and Eva were walking away and sighed in relief. She knew Gohan wouldn't want them to see him like this. Gohan was in a trance, it was like his body was able to move around freely but his mind was trapped.

She sat Gohan down against a tree, as she sat across from him. AJ looked down at the ground, tugging at the grass. She waited until his trance was gone so they could talk. This didn't happen all the time, but when it did it scared AJ. She wanted to know what was going on with him, she wanted to know why he was like this.

When she saw him like this it made her feel guilty. She had heard some stories about the boy who destroyed world, and for the longest time she thought this person was a heartless being. Yet when she meet Gohan she realized he was anything but heartless. He has so much heart that the things he had no control over were eating him up inside. He lived with the guilt that Vanlash and his crew should be carrying.

She had a feeling they did other things to him that made him in their control. She knew it would hurt but she wanted to know, she wanted to know everything.

There was something about him that moved her, there was something about him that wanted to make her a better person. If she could help him, then maybe she could find a way to better herself.

She was good at hiding her true self. Her true self doesn't want anything to do with becoming Queen. She for so long have wanted to be a normal person. She wanted to go to school full time, to have friends to hang out with that didn't work for her, she wanted to have a boyfriend and go out with him. She wanted so many things but because she was a Princess she could not have none of it.

Out of everything she wanted she wanted her mom. Her mother had died at a very young age, and even though her father did the best he could, it wasn't enough. Every girl needs a mother to look up too.

She looked up and noticed Gohan watching her, her eyes widen, wondering how long he had been out of it.

"You okay?" She asked as Gohan continued watching her. She waited for his answer, at first she thought he didn't hear her, and before she was about to ask again he spoke.

"I'm fine," he said, glancing down at the ground, noticing all the grass AJ pulled out of the ground.

"You don't seem fine," she said gently, leading forward towards Gohan.

"You don't either," he whispered, and as soon as he said it and saw the look in her eyes he regretted it.

She leaned back, her eye wide as if she was about to cry right there in front of Gohan.

"I'm sorry Princess," he said, leading back against the tree, "I shouldn't of said anything at all."

"No, you're fine," She smiled up at him, shutting her eyes so he wouldn't have to see her pain.

"I saw you dancing," Gohan said, as he watched her eyes open, "I'm sorry," he said, "I didn't want to hide it from you anymore, but you're beautiful when you dance."

She didn't know what to say, "Thank you." She finally whispered. Yet to her dancing wasn't to do because she wanted to be beautiful.

"How do you do it?" He whispered, "How do you get to your full powerlevel without fighting?"

She smiled, still looking at the ground, pulling out the grass below her, "Your power doesn't have to be used for just fighting, you know. It can be used for a lot of things. When I dance, I feel like I am able to use my power in a different way. In a way that doesn't have to be so violent," she paused, glancing up at Gohan, "Your power doesn't have to be used for violence, if you want you can use it for a lot of things. I just like to dance, so that's what I use my power for when I am not fighting."

"I don't understand!" Gohan yelled, standing up, " I don't understand how you can use your power for something good. I could never do anything good with what I have deep inside. It's only used to hurt, to destroy, to kill... Nothing good ever comes out of what I have."

Gohan was panting, looking down at AJ. He expected her to be scared, he expected her to run away and scream. He wouldn't be surprised if she called up Vanlash, threw him back at him and then he could use his power for the way it was built to be used.

Yet, she stood up and placed her hands slowly on Gohan's red cheeks. His breathing became even more rapid when she leaned closer to him. He didn't know what to do so he stayed still, his eyes watching her every movement.

She looked up into his eyes, using her fingers to brush the hair out of Gohan's eyes. She looked up at him and noticed all his fears. She could see more then ever the pain that he was going though. For so long this boy thought his power was only used for hate when it could be used for so many other things. She wanted to rid him of this pain. She wanted him to see he could be so much more.

"I'll teach you," she whispered, her fingers in his hair, "I'll teach you how to use your power for something beautiful."

And before Gohan could say another word, AJ brought his lips to hers and kissed him. It was her first kiss, and by the way his lips trebled she could tell this was his first kiss too. It made her happy, that this simple thing to everyone else would now mean the world to them both.

She parted from him, and she looked into his eyes and saw his shock.

Gohan was too stunned for words, she had just kissed him. She kissed him and at that very moment Gohan knew what type of love he had for AJ. This was his one true love-love, the kind of love you couldn't picture yourself without.

"Now," AJ smiled, grabbing his hand, "Let's go find something fun to do."


	10. Understand

_**Here is a little something special. I know it's totally short but don't hate me for that. I heart Goten and his little innocents, lol~**_

"_Gohan" _= Dream/telepathic abilities.

* * * = Change in location

**Hidden Bars**

Understand

_-Son Akito_

* Earth *

Everyone took Gohan's kidnapping hard. To the people who knew him the most, the world just didn't look the same without him.

Goten would look up and see a picture of his brother on the wall. He's stare at the teenager with his golden hair, his bright green eyes that looked like grass, and he look at the blue gi that he had seen before on someone else.

No one told Goten what happened to his brother four years ago. They are thought he was too young to understand.

Goten understood perfectly.

He would watch his mother with his innocent eyes, and with those eyes he would notice that mommy wasn't happy all the time. There were times that she would glance over at the room next to his. She would have a really sad look in her eyes, and when he saw his mommy in so much pain he could understand it all perfectly.

Then there was daddy's friends, Krillin and Vegeta. Their faces might have looked different but their eyes were the same. They had the same look as if they tried a little harder the past could be different.

His daddy had a totally different look in his eyes. Daddy's eyes were alway scary when he looked over at that room next to his or of the picture of the green eyed and golden hair person on the wall. Sometimes the look got so scary that Goten would have to look away and cover his eyes. He never wanted something to happen to have his eyes look that way.

He wanted his eyes to look like the person on the wall. Those eyes were big and beautiful, and when he looked up at that picture he wanted to roll in the grass and laugh.

Those eyes were green like the color of Piccolo, and when Goten looked at Piccolo he was able to complete understand.

He didn't have to be grown up to see the tall green man was in pain.

He heard his daddy and his mommy talking about him sometimes, that they have never seen the green man so calm. They would say that they didn't really get why the green man would train day and night without rest or without someone to spar with. Daddy tried to be his friend but daddy wasn't really ever his friend.

Goten never really saw the green man Piccolo that much, but when he did he didn't like it. He could feel his pain. His whole body would feel like it was breaking because of the green man. It almost hurt so bad that he wanted to cry. Yet, he'd never cry because then Piccolo would be even more sad.

Daddy, Mommy, Krillin... None of them were in pain like Piccolo was.

It took over his whole body, it was like a big monster jumped on him and would hurt him every day.

Goten with his innocent eyes would look upon Piccolo and those eyes were no longer innocent.

There were some nights that the green man would be sitting right outside the window of the room next to his. Goten would see this from his room, but would never talk to him. Instead he would watch as the green man glanced though the window as if he was looking for someone.

One night Goten had enough, he was going to talk to this green man.

"Whatcha doin'?" He asked one clear night.

Piccolo eyes glanced over at the little brat. Yes, he knew that the kid would watch him sometimes, but he was too consumed in his thoughts to care.

"I asked whatcha doin'?" Goten repeated himself a little louder. Yet when the green man didn't answer him Goten jumped out of the window and flew next to the man.

"Imma not allowed in that room," Goten said, looking over at the room and though the window all he saw was an empty room with a desk and a bed, "I dunno why it's so important."

Piccolo huffed, but did not say anything.

"It makes everyone sad when they look at the room," Goten went on to say, "And it makes everyone sad to see the picture of the green eyed person on the wall but I dunno why."

Piccolo eyed the child and watched as his eyes didn't leave the bedroom window. The child stared at the desk where once his brother would sit at. Piccolo would come to this window every once in a while and talk to the kid after the Cell Games. All those conversations and not once did the child say he was unhappy. It angered him.

He wished the kid was here so he could punch him square in the face.

"I wish I could see the green eyed person and ask him why everyone is so sad."

"Me too," Piccolo whispered, his eyes turning away from the window.

Goten's mouth opened, surprised to get the green man talking. Maybe if he talked more the green man Piccolo would talk more too.

"Why can't we talk to him?" Goten asked, looking up at the green man.

"I've tried," Piccolo said, "I tried talking to him but he can't hear me."

"That's too bad," Goten said, and right then he thought of something, "Can I try talking to him?"

Piccolo looked down at the young child, and noticed he had a stern look in his eyes. That look in his eyes reminded him of his student. It reminded him of their training, it reminded him of their battles, it reminded him of his hope.

Piccolo grinned, it had been a few years since Piccolo tried telepathically talking to Gohan. He placed his hand on top of Goten's head, "Listen here, I want you to close your eyes and think of that green eyed boy. I want you only think of him, okay."

Goten nodded his head and shut his eyes tight, "Uh-hu."

Goten thought of the person with the flowing gold hair like his dad. He thought of the bright green eyes that were so filled with happiness. He thought of the eyes and how he wished everyone could look like him. He wanted everyone to be happy so he didn't have to see everyone's sad eyes.

He thought of that and that alone gave him the determination to find that happiness everyone was looking for.

Piccolo closed his eyes and lent some of his power to Goten. He would not mind being a telephone if it meant hearing that Gohan was still okay.

The young child felt a surge of energy though him, and with that he finally was able to say, _"Hello?"_

* * *

Gohan didn't have dreams until he was set free, and now his dreams were finally changing.

At first they were of his mother and Tomack. Then they became his father and Vanlash fighting. It would be such a horrible battle, there would be so much blood, and all he could hear his his father's pain. Gohan didn't realize he remembered his father until the dreams started to come. Sometimes the dreams were a mix of Vanlash, Tomack, his mother and his father. When the young man had those dreams it was hard to want to ever sleep again.

Gohan never thought he could have good dreams. His heart was filled with so much pain, his past was so blood-driven and evil that these nightmares were part of Karma's way to make everything balance out. Sometimes he wish Karma would just kill him and get the whole thing over with.

Yet there was one night when Gohan had a dream, but it was something he never thought he could ever dream.

_There was grass everywhere. The grass was so tall and soft that the first thing the saiyan did was lay down on his back and look up at the blue sky above him. This place was so peaceful that he wanted to roll in the grass and laugh really loud. Since this was a dream, that is what he did. He rolled in the grass and gave out a loud laugh._

_This felt so real and impossible. Where could this place be that he could be so free? _

"_Hello?"_

_Gohan looked up to see a child standing before him. This child looked around four years old, and so familiar to him. He sat up, staring at the young boy, "Hello?"_

"_I've seen you before," the boy said, his wild black hair swaying in the wind. His eyes were wide with excitement, "On the wall at my house, that's where I've seen you before but you look different."_

"_Different?" Gohan asked, standing up and walking towards the boy, "What do you mean?"_

"_You have gold hair and you have green eyes in the picture, but now you look taller. You have black hair and black eyes like me."_

"_I do?" Gohan asked, he wondered how this child knew him in super saiyan form. He never showed it when he was under Vanlash's order so this could not be one of the children he had killed. This child didn't fear him like other children did. This kid looked happy to see him. His black big eyes glanced up at him with such wonder._

"_What's your name?" The boy asked._

"_My name is Gohan," and before Gohan could have said another word the child ran up to him and hugged him. Gohan's eyes widen, shocked by this display of affection. He kneeled down next to the boy once he let go of his grip, "What was that...?"_

"_I dunno," the boy said, "I felt like I had too. Do you mind if I tell my mommy and daddy about you?"_

_Gohan laughed, "Okay."_

"_Can I see you again?" The boy asked with pleading eyes, and with those type of eyes Gohan couldn't say no._

"_Sure you can, I would be happy to see you again."_

"_Ya!" the boy screamed as he grabbed ahold of Gohan's hand, "I gotta go."_

"_I'll see you again, okay." Gohan smiled at the boy._

Gohan's eyes opened wide. He looked over at the time. 0345. He woke up the same time every night. Yet, this dream was something he wasn't expecting.

Who was that kid? Why did he feel so familiar to Gohan?

He didn't quiet understand it, but the dream was a good one. Gohan turned to his eyes and closed his eyes. He wanted to sleep. He wanted to dream like that again.


	11. Hate

_**Last time on Hidden Bars (chapter 9: Love):**_

_"You don't seem fine," she said gently, leading forward towards Gohan._

_"You don't either," he whispered, and as soon as he said it and saw the look in her eyes he regretted it._

_"I saw you dancing," Gohan said, as he watched her eyes open, "I'm sorry," he said, "I didn't want to hide it from you anymore, but you're beautiful when you dance."_

_"How do you do it?" He whispered, "How do you get to your full powerlevel without fighting?"_

_"Your power doesn't have to be used for violence, if you want you can use it for a lot of things. I just like to dance, so that's what I use my power for when I am not fighting."_

_"I don't understand!" Gohan yelled, standing up, " I don't understand how you can use your power for something good. I could never do anything good with what I have deep inside. It's only used to hurt, to destroy, to kill... Nothing good ever comes out of what I have."_

_"I'll teach you," she whispered, her fingers in his hair, "I'll teach you how to use your power for something beautiful."_

_And before Gohan could say another word, AJ brought his lips to hers and kissed him. It was her first kiss, and by the way his lips trebled she could tell this was his first kiss too. It made her happy, that this simple thing to everyone else would now mean the world to them both._

* * *

**Hidden Bars**

Hate

_-Son Akito_

Gohan sighed deeply. Gohan and AJ were training for weeks now, but Gohan could not get the concept to use his powers for good. They would perform her dance, but each time Gohan tried to raise his power level it only reminded him of all the hate that he suffered.

The saiyan would begin to power up, and when that happened he thought about the collar, he thought about how it restricted him of his power level and how badly he needed to reach it. He thought about Vanlash and his gang, and it caused him to be even angrier. All the twisted pain that was inside of him could not be passed.

As far as he could remember—which wasn't much past his kidnapping—all he could remember is his power being used for hate.

"_Get angry Gohan!" _A voice yelled at him, which sounded so familiar to him, _"Get angry and reach your full potential."_

He'd listen to that voice because he knew that voice was right, the only way he could reach his full power is if he did get angry. He was remembering again. He was remembering all the built of pain, and it didn't begin four or five years ago when Vanlash stole him, it began far before that.

AJ would watch him, at first he would be fine at a normal state, but once his hair color changed to a solid gold and his eyes glazed over to a bright green that is when all their training went to waste. She could see his teeth clench, his body shake, his eyes fluttered with wild ideas.

"Gohan," she shouted, "Don't lose control. Don't get angry."

He couldn't listen to her. That voice that rung in his ear wouldn't let him, _"Gohan!" _The voice screamed, _"Let it all out, let all your anger out."_

He was doing it; he was reaching sky rocking power. AJ eyes widen, each time Gohan powered up it seemed like he was reaching untamable heights, each time he was stronger, _How strong are you?_ She wondered.

His hair would stand up straight; his muscles would increase in size, electric energy sparked all around him. If the Princess did not know any better it was as if he reached a new stage to his power.

"You can do it," AJ commented as calmly as she could, this power that she sensed was hard to shallow. She could understand the fear of his victims, "You can do it without all the hate that run though you. Calm down."

Gohan tried to listen to her, but getting to this stage was hard. It was hard to be at this state when…

And suddenly, it hit him. The last time he was at this form was against Cell.

He could remember it all. He remembered the reason he was able to reach this power, he was able to remember the cost of this power. He lost everything because of it.

All the details and the faces were still a blur to him, but the feeling that ran though his body remembered. Soon his mouth remembered as he whispered his enemy's name over and over again.

AJ stepped closer to him, "What are you…" She stopped, watching as Gohan's twisted hated face turned into hurt. Who was this Cell he was talking about? His power was starting to lower. It was getting lower and lower until he defused out of super saiyan, and soon his power became nothing until he fell to the ground.

"GOHAN!" AJ cried, running towards Gohan, but by the time she reached him he was curled up in a little ball. AJ was shocked, normally when Gohan remembered something he was in a zoned out state. He'd hardly make any movements or shed a tear.

Yet, now the teenager was curled up in a ball before her, his eyes shut tightly as the tears were beginning to form. His body started to shake.

She bent down next to him, yet before she was able to touch him he spoke.

"I-," he gasped, "Can't. Do. It."

"Do what?" She asked gently, still unsure if she should touch him or not.

"I can't do that again," a single tear ran down his cheek, "I can't remember again."

"Remember what?" She begged, she so desperately needed to understand him.

"Cell," he opened his eyes, staring at the ground, "Cell," he slurred his name. The name that truly changed everything for him.

"I think we should stop," AJ said, as she placed her hand softly on Gohan's back, "We can start again tomorrow."

* * *

"Princess, can I talk to you," Eva asked softly after the four of them had enjoyed dinner together. Gohan was unusually quiet this night, as he picked at his food.

"What's wrong Eva?" AJ asked, Eva only called her Princess when something was wrong.

"What's going on between you and Gohan?"

"Nothing!" AJ proclaimed a little too quickly, Eva stared her down as AJ took in a deep breath, "We're just training together, that's all."

"He's already a fighter and so are you," Eva proclaimed, "What are you training for?"

"It's none of your concern," AJ said with authority in her tone, she never spoke to Eva like that, and from then on Eva knew not to bring it up again.

AJ walked away from Eva just then. She loved Eva like a sister, but sometimes her over-protectiveness was a little too much.

She knew the risks she was taking with Gohan even though Eva did not know. Eva and Hazuki don't know anything about Gohan and his past, and she wanted it to stay that way. Gohan didn't open up about his visions or his past with anyone, but just hearing that name today gave her hope that one day he could share a little bit more with her.

Cell… She never had heard of that name before. He was not a member of Vanlash and his crew. Maybe it was someone from his old world. She wished she knew but she had no idea how to find out.

Maybe one day he'd tell her.

AJ kept walking until she walked past Gohan's room; she saw his door slightly open and peeked inside.

Gohan was staring outside the window; his back was to her so she straighten up her body and leaded her head inside. She watched as the moonlight reflected off his face, how beautiful and painful he looked, she couldn't help but to wonder what it would feel like to have him close to her.

Her body was giving off a little bit of heat and enough for Gohan to turn his head slightly back to see AJ standing at the door frame.

"Princess," he said as his eyes widen, wondering how long she was standing there.

"May I come in?" She asked.

"Of course," he stepped away from the window and to the door as she walked in.

"Please close the door," she asked as Gohan reached for the door and closed it softly behind him.

"I wanted to talk to you about today," she said, not sure if she should sit down on her bed or stand up. Gohan stiffened his body, unsure how to react to her.

"I think there is something that you must do to continue on with our training," she softly spoke, wondering what she was about to say would be prying too much into his personal life, "I think you need to find someone to talk to about your past."

Gohan blinked for a few seconds, "Do you want me to talk to you?" He asked softly.

She ran her fingers though her hair, "If you want to that is fine, but if you want too—"

"I don't think I could talk to anyone else," he said, moving away from the door frame, "Yet," he said softly, as if he was speaking to himself and not her, "I'm not sure I could tell you either."

He looked down at the floor.. He remembered how he reacted to that memory and it made him sick. He was suppose to be able to protect her, yet after she saw him in such a state how could she believe that he was able too.

"Gohan," she said softly, wishing that he would look up at her. Yet when he didn't respond to his name she sat down on the bed. She waited a few seconds before saying, "Sit down, please."

He sat down next to her as ordered, yet he was unable to look at her. He wished he hadn't worried her. She was going to become a Queen soon; surely she had much bigger problems to worry about.

She didn't say another word; instead she softly grabbed his hand. He looked over at her as she softly pulled his hand to her cheek, letting his long fingers run along her cheek. She blushed at such a state of affection, but there was something about Gohan that drawled her to him. Ever since she kissed him, she had an overwhelming need to protect him.

He watched as his hands touched her soft face, and quickly drew his hand away. He knew if he told her anything that she would walk out of his room without a second thought. He was a monster. He had killed hundreds of people; he had destroyed millions of homes. There was no love for a being like him, there was only hate.

"Oh Gohan," She pleaded, wishing that he wouldn't reject her. She wanted to touch him; she wanted to tell him that she wouldn't turn her back to him, that she would be there for her. Yet the words couldn't form. She wasn't if he'd believe it.

He turned away with such hurt that a tear rolled down her cheek. AJ gazed up at Gohan's stern face as he turned his head away from her. She watched as the moonlight grabbed a hold of him and formed a halo of light around him. He was so beautiful.

When she covered her face with her hands, tears escaping in between her fingers, Gohan turned to her with such anguish. He didn't know what he was supposed to do. Why was she crying for him?

He didn't even know what he was doing, and without a thought Gohan pulled her too him. She cried into his chest, she wanted to understand him. She needed to understand him. Never before had she been around someone that could understand what pain was. She knew it far too well and that was why she was able to see his pain when he was able to hide it so well from everyone else. She wanted to understand him; she wanted him to be her friend.

Their bodies moved together as they laid down on the bed side by side, His arms were still around her as her back was to him. He held his close to his chest, not wanting to let her go. There was something about her that he had felt a connection with. There was something about her that he was able to cry in front of her.

The tears started to overflow his eyes and he softly cried into her hair. He wanted to tell her everything but he was so afraid to do so. She was so caring and soft that he didn't want to do anything to upset that. He didn't want to tell her and have her hate him. He would simply die if she hated him.

They both stayed holding onto each other, crying into each other's arms until the night over took them, and soon they both gently fell asleep under the soft light of the moon.


	12. Brave

**Holy crap it's been so long! Does anyone read DBZ fiction anymore? I hope so because I actually updated "Hidden Bars." I re-read the chapters and felt inspired! I hope people read this, and if you do please review! **

_**Last time on Hidden Bars:**_

_She wanted to touch him; she wanted to tell him that she wouldn't turn her backon him, that she would be there for him. Yet the words couldn't form. She wasn't sure if he'd believe it._

_Their bodies moved together as they laid down on the bed side by side, His arms were still around her as her back was to him. He held her close to his chest, not wanting to let her go. There was something about her that he had felt a connection with. There was something about her that he was able to cry in front of her._

_They both stayed holding onto each other, crying into each other's arms until the night over took them, and soon they both gently fell asleep under the soft light of the moon._

* * *

**Hidden Bars**

Brave

_- Son Akito_

AJ woke up in the middle of the night, she didn't want to move in fear of waking up Gohan. She glanced behind her, he was softly asleep, holding her loosely. She leaned in slightly to him, enjoying his strong arms around her. AJ had never been been this open with someone, but for some reason it was easy with Gohan. Like her he lived in pain, but she knew deep down her pain was nothing like his.

AJ was strong, in fact she is one of the strongest beings on her planet. Her planet was a peaceful place, so being strong on her planet wasn't a hard goal to reach. Most of the people didn't have ability to use their chi, but it was common knowledge and there were many masters that knew how to use their chi.

Her ability to use her energy without powering up was a family tradition passed down to the oldest child. It was a rare ability which took a few years to master, and for AJ she still did not master it to its full potential. Her mother was able to use her abilities in every day life without draining her power. AJ can only focus on this ability when she danced. She tries to practice it when she is alone, but since her father has assigned her a bodyguard six years ago she has had less time to train.

This ability was not a skill she would use every day, if she lived in a more hostel world it would be risky to flaunt your power level so causally, yet since her father had done a fine job ruling the Kingdom and there was no worry. AJ had the abilities to be a great fighter, and she and Hazuki trained often, but Hazuki still over powered her. This fact annoyed her, but Hazuki would reassure her that she was a challenge.

She knew even Hazuki was no match for Gohan, in fact the first day he arrived and changed forms to destroy his collar, her father had received messages from all the masters in the area warning him of the dangerous power that the King had taken in. She would never tell Gohan this of course, he had already been though too much.

AJ had known Vanlash most of her life, he had made visits in and out of the Kingdom, and as an only daughter and future Queen, AJ had to know everybody. This included that man, and ever since she was a child she knew not to be around Vanlash, but sometimes she wasn't so lucky.

She wasn't sure if she could ever tell Gohan about her relationship with Vanlash. She hated remembering him.

She didn't know why her father did business with Vanlash, he was the King of the black market, everyone knew him and his crew were no one to mess with. After Frieza had died their business increased, in the last four years it had doubled. AJ assumed that is when they captured Gohan.

Of course she had heard of the boy with the hollow eyes. Everyone had. In the last four years the universe was in fear, wondering who would in the path of Vanlash and his crew.

She couldn't begin to picture what it must have been like for Gohan, to do the horrible things he had done and have no control over it. She had heard of collar devices on slaves, and although the Eastern part of the universe had slaves, there were still laws to protect them. There were yearly check ups, laws and even punishment for the masters if they were reported. One of laws were no brain washing devices to be used, breaking this law could even result in a lost of class, making that master a slave themselves.

Of course no was would question Vanlash, because what that device was doing to Gohan was clear as day.

Gohan twitched in his sleep, and AJ wondered what he was dreaming about. She saw his pain in the day, she only hoped that the nights would take some of it away.

For her it didn't matter if it was day or night, she thought of Vanlash often. Although what he did to her was nothing close to what he did to Gohan, she still understood Gohan. She still saw that signs that Eva or Hazuki weren't noticing.

She stayed into his arms and dazed into space, sometimes she couldn't help but to remember.

* * *

"_Azura Jun," the King looked down at his small daughter, her small hand holding his. She smiled up at her father, but it was a small smile, as if she couldn't think of what else to do._

"_As future Queen you must make sure to hold your head up high, I know your mother dying has been difficult for you, as it has been for me, but we must be strong and indifferent. Our people cannot see fear in our eyes, we are the leaders of this world and even as a small child you have to remain strong. Do you understand?" _

"_Yes Daddy," Azura Jun softly spoke._

_The former Queen had fell ill and died only two weeks ago. AJ was only ten, and she missed her mother dearly. She wanted to cry, she wanted to go into her mother's room and smell her but her father had strictly refused to let her in their room. 'Its no place for a child' he would tell her, and it would hurt her, all she wanted was to remember her mother._

_She let go of her father's hand, and walked down to a tree near the garden. This spot was were her mother taught her to dance. It was the only place her father couldn't take away from her. She heard her father sigh before walking away._

_Even at the young age of ten, she knew what her father was trying to tell her. Her mother would also often tell her she had to be brave so her people would feel safe. She wanted them to feel safe but she also wanted to cry. She pulled her knees to her chest, and turned her head side to side, no one was around._

_She lowered her head into her arms and cried._

"_Princess?" _

_AJ shot her head up and to the person next to her. He was in his late twenties, with long red hair and silver eyes. He leaned against the tree, staring down at her. _

"_Mr. Vanlash," She quickly got up, smoothing out her dress and whipping her tears. She didn't want him to tell father she had been crying._

"_It's okay to cry," he told her, but his tone was not smoothing, not gentle, but almost wicked. _

_AJ looked down, not sure if she should go find her father or continue to talk to Vanlash. _

_He lightly touched her shoulder, looking up he softly pushed her, "Let's go find your father, I'm sure he wants to make sure you are okay."_

"_Okay," she softly spoke, walking ahead of Vanlash, keeping her head down. All she wanted was a few minutes alone to cry, and now she was not allowed too since she had been spotted. _

_Not really paying attention to where she was heading or who was following her, AJ had made her way to her room, and without noticing Vanlash had followed her, closing the door behind him. _

_With no emotion she sat down on her bed, looking down at her hands, Vanlash sat next to her, placing his hand on her thigh. _

_She looked up at him, his physical features he was studding to look at, his eyes were deep silver, and sparkled like stars. _

"_I wish mother didn't die," she told him, unaware that he reached his other hand to her chin. They stared at each other, as Vanlash moved his hand up to her small cheek. _

_When she tried to turn her head he held on, refusing to let her move it. AJ eye's widen in fear as he moved his head to the back of her long brown hair, clenching it tightly making it impossible for her move, "It's okay to cry."_

* * *

The first memory of it was so haunting AJ shut her eyes and shook away the memories. That man was pure evil to touch a child the way he did. Of course, after that night he got her any time he caught her alone. As soon as she told her father about it, he showed no emotion, never confronted Vanlash about it, and after a year later hired a bodyguard. After that one bodyguard slipped up and left AJ alone with Vanlash, he was quickly fired and Hazuki replaced him. Soon after that Vanlash was never alone with her.

A part of her hated her father for never doing anything about it, but she knew that there wasn't anything her father could do. Although he was King of this planet, Vanlash was a lot more powerful then he was. Vanlash knew the King knew about them. The King never showed emotion, they simply did their business, whatever that was.

It was unusually that AJ knew nothing about their meetings, because AJ was at the age when she is starting to learn how to rule the Kingdom. Whatever they did together she would soon have to learn as well. She hoped once she found out what that was, she could get rid of Vanlash and figure it out on her own.

She thought about telling Gohan about her past, to let him know that Vanlash was evil and that Gohan had someone else that at least knew a little bit of his pain. That is why she was so drawn to him, because she felt the same kind of fear. Yet, she decided she would never tell Gohan. Even though she opened up to Gohan unlike any other, she had to be strong, she had to keep everything bottled up.

She needed to be brave in front of everyone so they could feel safe with her as their leader. It was the only way she could handle the stress.


	13. Family

**Thanks everyone for your comments! I'm so glad people are still reading this although I have left you in a cliffhanger for YEARS! I am just feeling inspired, so last night I wrote up another chapter! I was going to write more to this chapter, throw some Gohan in it, but I just wrote about the Sons and made the chapter from there. Anyway, enjoy! Tomorrow I have a day off work, so I might write more then. **

**Oh BTW, I don't own anything from DBZ. Also I've noticed that my grammar does suck at times, and for that I am sorry. I have been updating it as I see it. I just re-though it without noticing, but I am doing my best to correct it! **

_**Last time on Hidden Bars (chapter 10 "Understand")**_

_Everyone took Gohan's kidnapping hard. To the people who knew him the most, the world just didn't look the same without him._

_No one told Goten what happened to his brother four years ago. They are thought he was too young to understand._

_"Why can't we talk to him?" Goten asked, looking up at the green man._

_"I've tried," Piccolo said, "I tried talking to him but he can't hear me."_

_He thought of something, "Can I try talking to him?"_

_"Hello?"_

_Gohan looked up to see a child standing before him. This child looked around four years old, and so familiar to him. He sat up, staring at the young boy, "Hello?"_

* * *

**Hidden Bars**

Family

- Son Akito

Earth

"Chi-Chi, I'm home," Gokuu yelled as he walked though the door. He dropped his bag softly on the ground, taking in his surroundings. The one thing he loved about this place is that it never changed. Chi-chi was always a good house wife and mother.

After Chi-Chi wished for Gokuu to come back from the dead, Gokuu had been traveling across the universe looking for his son. Since the Earth's dragon could not bring Gokuu back to life, they used the Earth's dragon to transport Chi-Chi, Piccolo and Krillin to Namek, where they gathered their dragonballs and were able to wish Gokuu back to life. From that moment on Gokuu was rarely on planet Earth.

Since Gokuu had the ability with instant transmission, and with the help from King Kai, Gokuu was able to get close to tracking Vanlash and his crew. There were a few times he had gotten close, but he only found the aftermath of Gohan's destruction. Since the kidnapping of Gohan, even King Kai couldn't track Vanlash and the crew by their chi, in which King Kai concluded that whatever they were using to hide Gohan's power level they must have used something similar. Gokuu had been to many planets, trying to find as much information as he could about Vanlash, but most of his searching ended in vain, no one was willing to talk about Vanlash or the hollow eyed boy that had joined their crew.

Each story he heard and each planet he found that Gohan had destroyed, Gokuu's blood boiled. On the first planet Gokuu was so enraged that he transformed to a new level of super saiyan. As time went on, after watching a child die who was left in the aftermath, and the wicked things he said about his son before he passed, Gokuu had transformed again, his hair growing down his back and a new power entering him. Gokuu felt the power though him, and he could only image with the constant fighting Gohan was experiencing how strong his son would be.

Gokuu never told Chi-Chi about the things he heard about Gohan, he knew his wife could not take it. In fact, they both rarely talked about him, and they didn't know what to tell Goten. Gokuu hated tip-toeing around Chi-Chi, but the mentioning of Gohan's name was too much for her to bare.

They kept pictures of Gohan around the house, Gokuu saw Chi-Chi take one down a few years ago and he had screamed at her to keep everything the way it was. He had never screamed at Chi-Chi before, but the fact she was trying to take down reminders of Gohan upset him. He knew Chi-Chi was having a hard time, and he had no idea why she wanted to shut down when it came to her son. Maybe it was the guilt, Chi-Chi had told Gokuu of the year he was dead and how the family went on without him. Gohan was having a difficult time dealing with his death.

Gokuu regretted his decision to remain dead, maybe if he had been here Gohan would be-

His thoughts got sidetracked as Chi-Chi poked her head around the hall, "Gokuu-sa!" She screamed, running up to her husband and jumping into his arms.

Gokuu embraced his wife, holding her close, he knew he had to search for his son but he was always happy to return to his wife.

"I've missed you," Gokuu whispered into her ear, as they held on to each other a little more tightly.

"I've missed you too," Chi-Chi whispered as tears ran down her face, her husband had been gone for three months, it was good for him to return.

"Daddy?" The husband and wife parted to see their youngest son look up at his father with glee, and in a second he ran towards him.

Gokuu bent down and held out his arms, "Goten, kiddo!" Within seconds Goten ran into his father's arms, knocking both of them down in the process. They both looked at each other and laughed.

Gokuu knew he was always leaving his youngest son behind, but Goten never complained, just like his older brother Goten was glad for every moment they had together.

"Do we have anything for dinner?" Gokuu asked, lifting his son and placing him on his shoulders.

Chi-Chi reached up to Goten to fix his shirt, which got twisted when playing for this father, "Nothing yet, I was about to go to the store to grab some food."

"Oh don't worry about that, Chi," Gokuu sung, walking out the door with his son on his shoulders, "Goten and I will go fishing, we'll bring back some food."

"Fishin'?" Goten's eyes widen, grinning from ear to ear.

Chi-Chi followed her men outside, "Alright, but be back soon so I can make dinner before it's too late."

"Will do," Gokuu waved, before looking up at his son, "Wanna fly?"

"Yay!" Goten jumped off his father's arms and floated next to him. Gokuu followed his lead, and flew off to the fishing pond.

It did not take long for Gokuu to help his son with the fishing, and within an hour they had caught a huge fish. Goten was amazed that it was double the size of his father, yet Gokuu was holding it with ease.

"Someday you'll be strong just like your old man," Gokuu laughed as Goten few next to his father.

"Yay, mommy says that I can start training with daddy when I turn five," Goten touched the big fish, "Will daddy teach me to lift big things?"

"What?" Gokuu asked, dumbfounded, Chi-Chi had always refused Gohan to train, so the fact she suggested it to Goten was shocking to him.

"Yay," Goten grinned, "Mommy has been teaching me to fight, but she said that daddy is better at it."

"She's what?" Gokuu almost fell over, Chi-Chi had been training Goten? Why hadn't she told him, "Well," Gokuu grinned, "I'm happy, do you like to fight?"

Goten could not keep his excitement, "Yay, I wanna be a fighter just like daddy!"

Gokuu laughed, ruffing the top of Goten's head, "As soon as you turn five, you got a deal kiddo."

Chi-Chi smiled as she watched her son and her husband return with the fish. She shook her head as Gokuu set the great fish down and examined it. It would take a while to make the meal, but knew her husband and son would finish it in only a matter of seconds.

Dinner was filled with laughter, the three of them ate and talked as if Gokuu had never left. As soon as the three of them cleaned the kitchen, Gokuu and Chi-Chi took their worn out son into his bedroom to sleep.

"Did you have a great day?" Chi-Chi asked him, putting the covers over him, she grabbed his hand as Goten gave off a little yawn.

"Yay," Goten little eyes were half closed, as he looked over at his father, "I'm glad daddy's here."

Gokuu smiled, sitting down beside Chi-Chi, "Same here kiddo."

"Mommy, Daddy," Goten yawned, looking up at his parents, "I meet the green eyed boy yesterday."

Gokuu and Chi-Chi glanced over at each other, not understanding who he was referring too, before they could ask Goten looked up at them and smiled, "He's name is Gohan."


	14. Real

**Yay! Thanks everyone for the reviews. I can't believe how many chapters I am typing out right now. Three in three days, this is totally amazing! **

**I re-read a little bit of my old Hidden Bars, and I realized that I really didn't talk about everyone on Earth in the old story. I want to change that because they are just as important as Gohan is in the story. Plus, for some reason I am really loving writing about Gokuu, Chi-Chi, and Goten. **

**Anyway, I don't own DBZ, and please review! I appreciate my fellow readers! **

_**Last time on Hidden Bars:**_

_Since the Earth's dragon could not bring Gokuu back to life, they used the Earth's dragon to transport Chi-Chi, Piccolo and Krillin to Namek, where they gathered their dragonballs and were able to wish Gokuu back to life. From that moment on Gokuu was rarely on planet Earth._

_Since Gokuu had the ability with instant transmission, and with the help from King Kai, Gokuu was able to get close to tracking Vanlash and his crew._

"_Mommy, Daddy," Goten yawned, looking up at his parents, "I meet the green eyed boy yesterday."_

_Gokuu and Chi-Chi glanced over at each other, not understanding who he was referring too, before they could ask Goten looked up at them and smiled, "He's name is Gohan."_

* * *

**Hidden Bars**

Real

_- Son Akito_

Earth

Before going to sleep Goten had explained to his parents that Piccolo let him talk to the green eyed boy. Gokuu sat quietly listening to his son's explanation, as Chi-Chi had tears in her eyes. This alarmed Goten, which made the child stand on his tip-toes hugging his mother. It was then that Chi-Chi explained to Goten who the green eyed boy really was.

Gokuu was not sure how Goten would take the news that he had an older brother that was taken away by "bad guys." Yet, being Gokuu's son he had vowed that he would be strong like his father and bring his brother back home. He had begged Gokuu to train him before his fifth birthday, which was the only part of the conversation Gokuu was able to smile.

To be honest Gokuu was _mad_, not with his son but the fact that Piccolo had not told him about this. As soon as Piccolo sensed Gokuu's return he should had come to him imminently. Gokuu could not display this in front of his son, and as soon as their conversation ended both Chi-Chi and Gokuu kissed their son goodnight and went into the living room.

"I'm going to see Piccolo," Gokuu said as soon as he was out of his son's ear reach, he barely noticed Chi-Chi who's eyes were filled with tears.

"Gokuu-sa" Chi-Chi cried out, stopping Gokuu mid-step, "I-" She didn't know what to say to her husband. These last few years had left her filled with guilt, she knew Gokuu was upset with her on how she handled the topic of their oldest son, but in all honestly she felt like a failure of a parent. Even though Chi-Chi was strict with Gohan, forcing him to study and to be a scholar, she had known Gokuu was always the favorite parent. He was not only a father to his son, but also a friend. During Gohan's childhood Gokuu's parenting skills had annoyed Chi-Chi. She knew Gokuu was a good father but couldn't stand the fact that he let Gohan play before all his work was finished. She tried to do what was best for her son, but in the times Gokuu hadn't been home, Gohan had been taken from her twice. The statistics of her parenting skills were not in her favor. It killed her that no matter what she did, she failed her oldest son.

Gokuu turned around and stared at his wife, he watched her try to form the words in her mouth, but she was unable too. He watched as the tears fell from her face. His face soften, as he walked up to his wife and embraced her. She wrapped her arms around him, sobbing into his chest. There were so many things Chi-Chi wanted to say, but couldn't begin to form the words.

Gokuu said nothing as he rubbed her back, rested his head on top of hers, trying to comfort her the best he could. He could feel the guilt that consumed her. Yet, he didn't know how to tell her that it was okay, that he understood her pain. He knew the words wouldn't help them now, the best thing to do was to find Piccolo and see if there was a way to locate Gohan.

Gokuu pulled away from Chi-Chi, she couldn't look up at him, she stared down at her feet. Gokuu ran his fingers though her hair, and pulled her head forward to give her a soft kiss on the top of her head. With that, Gokuu turned around and walked out the door.

With a simple thought of Piccolo, Gokuu used his instant transmission and appeared in front of Piccolo before he had a chance to think of what to say. Piccolo was sitting down, eyes closed tightly, not moving an inch.

Gokuu waited for Piccolo to open his eyes, when Piccolo did not respond Gokuu harshly called out his name, "Piccolo."

Piccolo opened his eyes, standing up slowly, "Son, I was waiting for you to return."

"I have been home all day," Gokuu replied "Why didn't you tell me that Goten spoke to Gohan?"

Piccolo took a second to gather his thoughts, in which annoyed Gokuu, why wasn't Piccolo speaking? He had known he had been looking for his son for years, any information would provide helpful, specially if Piccolo and Goten had already contacted him.

Piccolo folded his arms, "I don't understand how your child did it, for the past day I have been trying to contact Gohan as well, but I can't. I don't know how Goten did it, but for some reason he is able to reach Gohan when I could not."

"Let me try," Gokuu asked, walking closer to Piccolo, "What happened between you and Goten, tell me every detail."

Piccolo went on to explain to Gokuu that all he told Goten to do was to think of his brother, as he rested his hand on Goten he had used his telepathic skills to reach out to Gohan. Maybe it was the family connection that allowed Goten to reach Gohan when Piccolo could not. Goten was speaking out loud when he saw Gohan, in which Piccolo widen his eyes and stared down at the kid. He remember asking Gohan if he could tell his parents about him, and by the end of the conversation Goten had looked up at Piccolo with wide eyes.

They had tried again shortly after Piccolo had told Goten what to ask Gohan, but the second time failed. Goten had been in tears at this point, in which Piccolo had reassured him that they would find a way to contact him again.

Since then, Piccolo had been trying on his own to talk to Gohan, but nothing happened.

Gokuu couldn't really be angry with Piccolo after explaining what happened, he knew Piccolo missed Gohan just as much has he did. He knew this was why Piccolo was training on his own, he knew this was why Piccolo turned up at their house in the middle of the night on random occasions. Gohan and Piccolo were best friends, and thanks to his eldest son Piccolo had join their side and the evil in his heart disappeared.

"So we just do this the same way as King Kai," Gokuu placed his hand on Piccolo's shoulder, "I'll think of Gohan and you'll do whatever you did with Goten and maybe I'll be able to get ahold of him."

A very small part of Piccolo wanted to be the one to get a hold of Gohan first, and the fact he could not even though they had a telepathic connection hurt his pride. Though, he could take it if it meant his friend could come back. Piccolo closed his eyes and searched for Gohan.

Gokuu closed his eyes and followed Piccolo's lead, he hoped he could hear Gohan's voice. It had felt like forever since he last heard his son's voice. He wondered how much taller he got, how much older he looked. He wondered if his crazy mane of hair was still as wild as ever. Gokuu tried to picture what his son would look like. Everyone had told Gokuu that Gohan looked just like him, but he had always thought he looked like his mother. Gohan had a softness to him that Chi-Chi had, and although Chi-Chi was a stern woman, he could see the softness in her not everyone could see. Gohan was like Chi-Chi, smart and beautiful, determined and brave. Standing here thinking of his son he never realized how much Gohan was like her, Gohan was his mother's son, though and though.

A single tear rolled down Gokuu's cheek, he missed his son so much.

* * *

_Gohan looked around his surroundings, he was at the Cell Games._

_It had only taken in a second to remember every detail of the games, and all though the faces of everyone had been blurred in the memory, the one face that he could remember was Cell's. _

_He looked up at the monster, and the monster stared down at him. Both creatures didn't exchange words, but by the look in Cell's eyes it was as if he had already overpowered Gohan. Gohan's eyes were wide with fear, looking at that great monster he remembered all the pain that happened on that day._

_He had lost his father, that monster had taken his father away from him. Yet, he knew it wasn't completely Cell's fault that his father was gone. Within the dream he knew that it was his fault that his father died._

_It was the beginning of the horror, this was his last vivid memory before his new life with Vanlash had begun. Even in his old life he was a failure. _

_As if it was clockwork, Vanlash appeared next to Cell, smirking the way he had always smirked at him. Gohan started to back up, but within seconds a gold collar was placed on his neck from behind, he had looked behind him to see Tomack glaring at him, pushing in to the ground. No words were exchanged, Gohan couldn't breathe. He fell to his knees, curled in a small ball shutting his eyes_

_He didn't want to open his eyes, he didn't want to see what was happening next. In the dream he could feel their eyes on him. What was going to happen next? What was going to happen to make him drown in his own shame. Even in his dreams he couldn't find any peace._

_Gohan tried to get up, but had only made it on his knees. He had opened his eyes, they were still there, but Rexter and Weller had joined them. The five of them circled him, there wasn't a way out. _

_Gohan screamed, "STOP, STOP, STOP!" Tears building up in his eyes, "LEAVE ME ALONE, PLEASE."_

_Their eyes continued to stare down at him, he was losing his breath, his head twisting side to side as each of them took a step closer to Gohan, he took a deep breath, sigh as he sobbed, "Kill me... Just kill me. Please, I don't want to live anymore."_

_Gohan placed his hand into his hands and sobbed, he didn't want to live anymore. This life was beyond repairing, no matter what anyone said he could never live again. The dreams haunted him._

_Without noticing, the monsters of his past disappeared. He was surrounded by whiteness._

_A man with wild black hair appeared from afar, turning his head to look at the whiteness around him. His eyes fixated on the child sobbing into his hands. Once the man walked closer to him, he noticed his long black mane hair, spikes of falling in front of his face. His hair was long, touching the middle of his back. He was wearing rags with a gold collar around his neck. _

_Gokuu's eyes widen, was it really... "Gohan?"_

_Gohan did not pay attention at first, slowing parting his face from his hands, panting from his tears. He had whipped his tears from his eyes before looking around at his settings. Everything had turned white. _

_Gokuu didn't know how to process it, after all this time... it was Gohan. _

"_Son!" Gokuu gasped, without thinking Gokuu took the sobbing child and wrapped his arms around him, "I can't believe it, Gohan!"_

_Before Gohan had a chance to react, a man wearing orange and blue had taken him into his arms. His first reaction was to push the man away from him, Gokuu subbed backwards looking up at his son in confusion, "Gohan?"_

_Gohan was breathless, trying to breath he looked down at the man before, trying to place who he was. He had called him 'son,' did this mean he was his father?_

_Gohan didn't know what to say as Gokuu stood up, he knew this was his son but by the look in his eyes this was not the person he remembered, this was not the son he raised. _

_This person was torn, he was broken. He could see why he was called him the boy with the hollow eyes. _

_Still, Gokuu was glad to see him, "Son, it's me, it's your dad. Don't you remember?"_

_Gohan was still trying to catch his breath, thinking back, trying to place this man in his thoughts. Finally, it hit him. He had remembered his father in the colors of orange, blue, and black. Looking at this man that is exactly who he was. A warm color of orange, blue, and black._

_As soon as Gohan's eyes recognized him, Gokuu sighed in relief, "Gohan," he softly spoke, "I-," he tried to hold his tears, "I'm so happy you're alive."_

_Gohan's shoulders slumped forward, even in his dreams he didn't have the energy to cry, but he was remembering his father, he was talking to his father. A part of him knew this was no dream, just like it was with the little boy._

_Gohan smiled, and in an instant Gokuu couldn't hold his tears any longer, that was the smile of his son. So pure, so hopeful, it was the smile of his mother's. _

"_Where are you?" Gohan finally asked, hoping maybe the answer of his home planet would help him remember more of his former life._

"_Earth," Gokuu explained, whipping the tears in his eyes, "I'm with Piccolo right now, he's helping me talk to you."_

_Hearing the name alone gave Gohan the ability to remember the colors green and blue, the colors were warm and friendly. He smiled, slowly he was placing a face to the name. _

"_We have been trying to find you," Gokuu said, taking a step closer to Gohan, "For some reason we weren't able to sense you. Do you know why?"_

"_It's because of-," and out of habit, Gohan placed his hand around his neck. He was expecting to feel nothing, but when he felt the cold gold against his neck, his eyes widen in fear, "Oh no..."_

_Everything felt so real, he was talking to his father, he was slowly remembering about Piccolo and the planet called Earth. If these things were real then this collar must be real, looking down at his clothes, he was in the ragged clothing. These were the clothes he wore with Vanlash. _

_He couldn't breath, not realizing the difference between dream and reality Gohan fell to the ground, "NO!" He screamed, grabbing ahold of his father's hand, "PLEASE, HELP ME. I CAN'T DO IT AGAIN, I CAN'T GO BACK," he lowered his head and sobbed, not letting go of Gokuu's hand._

_Gokuu didn't know what his son was talking about, his eyes widen with panic, "Gohan, you have to tell me what's going on. You have to tell me where you are so I can find you and bring you home."_

_The panic of the collar around his neck didn't allow the saiyan to hear what his father was saying. Instead he looked up at him with fearful eyes, "I don't want to kill again," he sobbed, "I don't want them to control me anymore." He sobbed as if his fate was already sealed._

"_Gohan," Gokuu tried to calm his son, "You have to tell me where you are so I can get you, I can't find you unless I have a location of where you are. Please son, tell me so I can help you."_

"_You can't," Gohan sobbed, trying to catch a breath between his tears, "I wish I was dead-"_

Gohan's eyes shot wide open, as if he was gasping for air. He placed his hands around his neck, as soon as he felt the his warm skin he sighed in relief. It was all just a dream. He looked down at the clothes he was wearing, thick cotton shorts he was clothed in, instead of rags. He was in the Kingdom, he was safe from Vanlash. It was 0345, the same as every night. He slowly rose from his bed, and looked around his room to see if AJ was there. AJ had left, which he figured she would, it would be wrong for a Princess to be caught in a bodyguard's room.

Recalling the dream, he remembered his father, was that part of the dream real? Was his father really trying to find him so he could bring him home? He clenched his blankets, he wasn't sure his father would want him back after all that he had done.

Even if his father was able to find him, he wouldn't be able to leave. The King had freed Gohan from Vanlash and he couldn't escape, he also cared about AJ but it was more then that. He was in the King's debt. For now, this was the only place safe from Vanlash, if he returned to Earth Vanlash would surely find him again.

Gohan didn't try to go back to sleep that night, he stared up into the ceiling, wishing for a life he knew he could never get back.


End file.
